– Threatened and hidden – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

The fifth week of the trial against the IS accused sisters from Bærum is underway. The sisters deny criminal guilt. The topic now is the period the sisters were interned in large camps in north-east Syria. This week the court heard from a woman who lived in camp Roj at the same time as the sisters. In the camp, the woman is said to have been beaten up because she was seen as an infidel. Women and children in the Roj camp in 2023. Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP The woman is in France now. There, she is being investigated for activities linked to the terrorist group IS. She has the status of the accused. In the interrogation, the woman was asked if the accused sisters had beaten, threatened or frightened others in the camp. – They threatened and intimidated, but I cannot say for sure whether they used violence. They bullied and hid many people, the witness said of the defendants. She was questioned in France in September. She was then dressed in a denim jacket and had her hair up. DEFENDERS: Attorney Geir Lippestad and Tor Omar Nyquist. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB The defenders of the sisters say that none of them recognize themselves in the stories of the French witness. – She does not recognize herself in the accusations she makes, says lawyer Tor Omar Nyquist to news. He defends the eldest sister. – Said I engaged in infidelity In the interrogation, the woman said that she worked for the Kurdish security forces who ran the camp. This put her in a vulnerable position. Women in the camp are said to have tried to get her to end her cooperation with the Kurds. Marit Formo leads the case against the two sisters. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB They wanted her to express remorse and carry out a ritual purification. The witness is said to have refused to do this. – Then they definitely labeled me as an infidel, said the French woman. She said that the threats against her increased after this. One day the eldest sister is said to have called her to her: – She blocked the way and said in a cold tone that what I was doing was infidelity. She said I had to express remorse or I would regret it. The sister rejects this. A few days later, the woman is said to have been subjected to a physical attack. – They wanted to crush my face with a stone. The Kurds had given her the task of fetching some South African women who lived in the innermost part of the camp. Usually she was followed by the military, but this time she is said to have gone alone. – I was on my way into the camp when they pounced on me. I was beaten up. After they beat me, they turned me around because they wanted to smash my face with a rock. Two women are said to have intervened and eventually the guards arrived. In connection with the incident, several women are said to have been arrested, including the Norwegian sisters, the woman told the interview. However, the witness did not know whether the sisters had participated in the physical attack on her. CAMP: A few thousand women who are believed to be linked to IS live in the Roj camp. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news She was also asked if anyone could have perceived the accused sisters as IS supporters/morality police without that being the case. – The people they stayed with were the IS police. But since everyone covered up, it’s hard to tell if they did anything or not. But they were always with these women when they attacked or made threats, the woman said. Lawyer Hilde Firman Fjellså defends the youngest sister. She is concerned that no video documentation of the violent episode has been presented, despite the fact that there are many cameras in the camp. – The French witness is also very clear that everything about attacks and violence is something she cannot directly link the defendants to, says Fjellså to news. Considering expansion The sisters from Bærum have not been prosecuted for any incidents in camp Roj. Part of the reason for this is that the questioning in France was done after the indictment was ready. The prosecution will now consider whether the period for which the sisters are charged should be extended. – We will consider whether there are grounds for extending the indictment period, says state attorney Marit Formo to news. Formo believes the diploma is a very relevant piece of evidence. – It illuminates a similar pattern of action that we see in the indictment period, says Formo. She is referring to events that are supposed to have happened in the Al Hol camp until 2021. The elder is accused of handling events and reactions against women in this camp. Earlier this week, messages written by the eldest sister were presented, in which she spoke of “spies” in the camp who were to be “taken out”. – Survived as if by a miracle Today, researcher Vera Mironova testified in court. She is associated with the University of Harvard. Mironova has long been in contact with one of the women who was referred to as a spy in the chat. – They used the word spy if everyone they thought was not hardcore IS, explained Mironova. Vera Mironova is affiliated with Harvard University and has researched foreign fighters in Syria. She has also worked on the topic as a journalist. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news According to Mironova, the woman was a clear voice against IS in the camp, and was subjected to threats and attacks because of this. In June 2021, the woman was attacked with a hammer and knives, the researcher said. – She survived by a miracle. Half her skull was open, she said. Told about groupings in the camp When the researcher took the witness box on Thursday, she was asked what the groupings were like inside the camp. – There were two camps where one was hardcore IS and the other against it. Then there was a large group who were neutral, Mironova explains. The eldest sister has previously explained in court that many from the Russian group lived in the neighborhood of the camp. She stuck to this group because it was safest that way. The eldest sister herself has explained that the Russian-speaking group was loyal to IS, and enforced IS rules. She had to accept this, to be safe. Mironova explains that there were many who were neutral in the camp, who were not concerned with “politics”. They tried to survive quietly. Publicly expressing opposition to the terrorist group IS was dangerous. – The people who were very much in favor of IS tried to maintain IS rules in the camp. They were involved in monetary transactions, worked with IS judges and carried out the sentences that had been handed down, the researcher said. Published 14.11.2024, at 19.13



ttn-69