– This is a great tragedy for the legal order, for the next of kin, for society and not least for the person concerned: Viggo Kristiansen himself, who unjustly had to endure and be judged and condemned and then had to serve the law’s strictest punishment, says Marius Dietrichson. He leads the defense group in the Norwegian Bar Association. Dietrichson believes the Baneheia case is one of the worst cases in which one can be wrongfully convicted. – From recent times, this is the worst case. There is talk of rape, mutilation and murder of two little girls, that is what the accusation is about, he says. The Attorney General wants to acquit Viggo Kristiansen of the murders in Baneheia in Kristiansand in 2000. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Viggo Kristiansen was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder and sexual assault of Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) and Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) in Baneheia in the year 2000. Jan Helge Andersen was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the murder of Stine Sofie and complicity in the sexual abuse of both. On Friday, it became clear that the Attorney General believes there is no evidence against Kristiansen and will ask the Court of Appeal to acquit him. Kristiansen was released from Ila prison and detention center last summer, after serving 21 years. If the public prosecutor had not asked for his release, he would probably have served even longer. Viggo Kristiansen was released from Ila prison and detention center in the summer of 2021. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – Weaknesses in the detention system Marius Dietrichson of the Bar Association believes that the case shows weaknesses in the detention system. – The custodial sentence that was imposed is in principle a life sentence. He would have spent the rest of his life in prison if the case had not been reopened, because the court that was supposed to decide on the extension of the custodial sentence would only have decided whether the convicted person had been rehabilitated or not, Dietrichson asks – How absurd it would have been: if he had in that trial had tangible evidence of his innocence, at the same time that the judge should have extended the sentence into eternity, because he did not admit guilt in the matter of which he was innocent? – One of Norway’s biggest judicial murders Private investigator Tore Sandberg, who among other things was the driving force behind uncovering the judicial murder against Fritz Moen, believes that the case against Viggo Kristiansen is one of the biggest judicial murders in Norwegian history. Private investigator Tore Sandberg believes the Baneheia case is one of Norway’s worst judicial murders. – The case against Viggo Kristiansen is clearly in the very top class among judicial murders we have seen, says Sandberg. Kristiansen’s defender Arvid Sjødin has already notified a compensation claim of several tens of millions. – We are without a doubt facing the biggest compensation and compensation case in Norwegian history here, says the private investigator. The Baneheia decision: Can claim more than 30 million in compensation Calls for more similar decisions Dietrichson in the Bar Association praises the reinstatement commission for taking up the case, but calls for more similar decisions from the commission. He believes that most of the cases from the commission involve technical errors being committed. – We miss decisions based on the fact that the wrong man has been convicted. We see that from other countries. It is natural, given new DNA technology, that you can clear up other cases and make the person who actually did it responsible. But we see little of that here in Norway, he says.
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– This is a great tragedy – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
