– Viggo, I want to say sorry for the injustice you had to endure. The Minister of Justice begins today’s press conference by speaking directly to Viggo Kristiansen. – You have tried to speak up. You have claimed your innocence, but you have not been heard, she continues. – If the Court of Appeal pronounces an acquittal, this is one of the biggest legal scandals in Norway’s recent history, said the Minister of Justice after the state attorney submitted a request to acquit Viggo Kristiansen in October. Establishes independent investigation committee At this point, the minister did not want to comment on the case further, but already announced an investigation into the Baneheia case. Today, the minister repeated this. – As a rule of law, we must learn from our mistakes. Therefore, the government will set up an independent investigation committee. We will find the reason why Viggo Kristiansen was wrongly convicted. SORRY: – Words are poor in such a context, says Justice Minister Mehl. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news Defense attorney for Viggo Kristiansen, Bjørn Gulstad, said earlier today that he expected the minister to issue an apology, as then Justice Minister Knut Storberget did in 2008 after the acquittal of Fritz Moen. She has now done that. – It is difficult to understand what it has been like for you. What it must have been like to experience and go through criminal prosecution, and serve such a long custodial sentence for conditions you have now been acquitted of, she says. Again, she calls the case perhaps the biggest legal scandal in Norwegian history. – There is a man at the center of this who has spent many, many years in prison for something he has now been acquitted of. It is difficult to understand how terrible it must have been, and it has obviously affected his life and everyone around him. Therefore, I think it is absolutely right that the government apologizes, says Mehl. – On a day like this, I think primarily of Viggo Kristiansen, and those closest to him for the injustice that has been committed against him, adds the minister. More regrets Agder Police Chief Kjerstin Askholt regrets how the police have handled the Baneheia case in Kristiansand from 2000. Viggo Kristiansen has now been officially acquitted of murder and rape for which he served 21 years in prison. – The Attorney General’s recommendation in October was very clear. We apologized strongly and deeply at the time, and I can repeat it today. Words are a bit poor in such a context, but I would like to repeat the apology once more, says the police chief in Agder, Kjerstin Askholt to news. Askholt says it is now important that they enter into the investigation which is about to start and which will be led externally. – I think that is absolutely right. And we must contribute everything we can to get as good answers as possible about how this could happen and for the future to learn from it, she says. A revolution happened Earlier in October, Askholt came out with an apology to Kristiansen on behalf of the Agder police. Now she says that the police will be open to how the investigation is set up. – We agree in every way to learn from this. – How will the police in Agder today continue to learn from this case? – There has been a revolution within the investigative profession in the aftermath of Baneheia. We should be happy about that. We will now sit down and investigate further things we can learn from this, so that such cases do not happen again, says Askholt Frikjent after 21 years in prison – I accept the verdict, Kristiansen said briefly and looked over at the family when the judge had read it out the decision in the Borgarting Court of Appeal today. As the Attorney General asked for an acquittal in October, it was no secret what Judge Tonje Vang would conclude. Kristiansen is now officially acquitted of murder and rape, for which he has served 21 years in prison. – The investigation must assess where in the process it has failed, said judge Tonje Vang in the decision. – Today starts the rest of my life Kristiansen was not even at the press conference where the acquittal was announced. Defender Bjørn Andre Gulstad says that he has a strong need to distance himself from the press. Instead, he reads out a post on behalf of Viggo Kristiansen: – On 19 May 2000, two innocent children were robbed of their lives. Their survivors have since had to live with a grief and a pain that is much worse than the offense and strain it has been for me to serve 21 years in prison for a crime I did not commit. Even with the pain and powerlessness I have lived with since the arrest and subsequent conviction, I can see how upsetting it must have been for those left behind to be told that one of the two convicted perpetrators was nevertheless not guilty. At the same time, Kristiansen asks for understanding that he could not live with an erroneous verdict. – Everything that has been investigated since the reopening of the case has shown what I have always claimed: I had nothing to do with the crime in Baneheia. – I have suffered every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year for 21 years as a result of misjudgments by the police, the prosecution, the court and the reopening commission. Viggo Kristiansen and his father waved on their way out of Ila prison in the summer of 2021. Photo: EVEN BJØRINGSØY JOHNSEN/news Kristiansen writes in the post that it is largely the efforts of private individuals and committed lawyers that led to the reopening of the case. – I am eternally grateful to them all. In conclusion, Kristiansen asks for calm in the post: – Now I am relieved. Now I am asking for peace and quiet in the attempt to get back on my feet a life that I have had postponed for 22 years. Today the rest of my life starts. This is the Baneheia case * Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) and Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) were raped and killed in Baneheia in Kristiansand on 19 May 2000. They were found two days later. * Viggo Kristiansen and Jan Helge Andersen were sentenced to 21 years in custody (minimum term of 10 years) and 19 years in prison, respectively. * Kristiansen was convicted of rape and murder of both girls. Andersen was convicted of rape and murder of Sørstrønen and complicity in the rape of Paulsen. He singled out Viggo Kristiansen as the main man behind the murders. * Andersen confessed – Kristiansen has always claimed that he is innocent * The commission for the resumption of criminal cases had the case on its table for the seventh time in the summer of 2017. * In February 2021, the commission decided that Viggo Kristiansen will have a new trial of the criminal case. * On Friday 21 October, Attorney General Jørn Maurud decided that he will go to the Court of Appeal with a message that Viggo Kristiansen should be acquitted of the murders and assaults for which he was convicted.
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The state apologizes to Viggo Kristiansen after his acquittal – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
