Emotions are strong among the mothers of two of the men who were cleared on Friday in the Silje case. 28 years of pent-up despair, frustration, longing and anger mingle with joy and relief. Because after their sons were named as perpetrators in -94, both mothers eventually lost custody of the children. They experienced this as a direct consequence of the Silje case. – I didn’t trust the police this time either and had braced myself for the worst. When I got the news that the boys had been cleared, I felt an enormous sense of relief. Tears rolled and rolled all day, says the mother of him who was 6 years old and was named by the police as one of the perpetrators in 1994. – It is the best message I have ever received in my life. It’s almost hard to believe it’s true. I cried and cried all day. And so did the others in the family, my siblings and my mother, says the mother of him who was 5 years old on that fateful day. – Feeling anger and frustration The mothers and the two men, whom we call the 5-year-old and the 6-year-old, still wish to remain anonymous. The mother of the 5-year-old cannot hold back the tears when she has to convey how she reacted to the public prosecutor’s decision that her son and the two other boys in the Silje case “should be considered innocent”. The mother of the 5-year-old started crying when she learned that her son will now be considered innocent in Silje Redergård’s death. Photo: Svend Even Hærra / news – It’s so strong, I’m overjoyed. But I also feel anger and frustration at everything we’ve been through in these 28 years. It’s not over yet, she says. Because both mothers are clear about one thing in their joy and relief: the police’s erroneous decision in 1994 must have consequences, they believe. – They must find out what went wrong in the police investigation. Someone has to be responsible for that, says the 5-year-old’s mother. – Made our lives hell The 6-year-old’s mother agrees. She remembers with horror the time her little son was pressured during the interrogation at the police station in Trondheim. – It is very difficult to think about now. I felt that there was something wrong during the questioning, that he was pressured to admit something he had not done. But I was taught to believe in the police, that they knew what they were doing, she says. Now she believes that the police’s handling of the Silje case in 1994 must be investigated: – They made our lives hell. They should be ashamed. The poor job they did has ruined the lives of so many. The 5-year-old’s mother agrees: – I wonder if the police can ever understand what they have done to us with the decision they made in 1994? She believes that the investigation is not only important for the boys and their mothers. She thinks of Silje’s parents, who are now left without an answer. – It is not sufficient to simply drop the case. They must also find out what happened to Silje, she says. Silje Marie Redergård was found dead in Trondheim in 1994. Photo: Privat / news – The loss of the children has caused great trauma The biggest wound for both mothers is that they both lost custody of their children after they were named as perpetrators in the Silje case . After a few years of fighting in the legal system, both the 5-year-old and the 6-year-old ended up in foster care – as well as the boys’ sisters. The mothers experience this as a direct consequence of the Silje case. The three boys who were blamed for Silje’s death were minors and could not be sentenced to prison. Instead, their further fate was left to Barnevernet. After news Brennpunkt’s documentary series “Murder in the toboggan run” was shown at the end of 2021, Trondheim municipality decided that Barnevernet’s handling of the 5-year-old and 6-year-old should be investigated. The mothers both believe that it is right and reasonable that Child Welfare is also held responsible. . The Child Protection Agency, for its part, has shown that both mothers also had a history with the Children’s Protection Agency a few years before the Silje case. – The loss of the children has caused great trauma, says the 5-year-old’s mother. She was not aware of the methods used on her son in the nursery after he was named as the culprit, until Brennpunkt revealed this in the documentary series. The 6-year-old’s mother hopes that the investigation by Barnevernet will lead to compensation for them. – I have fought for my children all along. Now I hope that the investigation leads to them realizing that it was wrong for them to take the children away from me, she says. More than a year after Trondheim municipality announced an investigation into child protection, the two mothers and their children have not yet been contacted by the investigation committee that has been appointed. Murder in the toboggan run Illustration: Marius Lubbe / news On 15 October 1994, five-year-old Silje Marie Redergård was found partially undressed, abused and dead in the wet fresh snow on a toboggan run in the Drabant town of Tiller. The following day, the police chief in Trondhjem said that Silje was mistreated and left for dead by three playmates aged four, five and six. Earlier in the day, they should have told in questioning how they themselves or their friends had used serious violence against Silje. In the documentary series “Murder in the sledge”, news Brennpunkt has gone through the police documents together with a number of experts. The experts conclude that there is no technical evidence that the boys were behind the crimes against Silje, and that they were subjected to illegal interrogations and pressure. After considering the case and what emerges in the documentary series, the public prosecutor in Trøndelag, Bjørn Kristian Soknes, asked the police to start a new investigation. In February, the state attorney concluded that the boys are innocent in the case.
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– We feel both joy and anger – news Dokumentar
