Now both PST and the defenders of the sisters want the new allegations to be investigated. – There is information that we are also following up on and that we will investigate further, says police attorney in PST, Terje Michelsen about the allegations from the authorities in north-east Syria. On Thursday, news told that the authorities believe that the two sisters were part of an extreme grouping in the camps when they were detained. – They attacked women in the market who did not cover their faces. Those from Norway were also there, claimed Rashid Omar, among others. He is the head of camp Roj, where the sisters were interned until last year. The defenders reject all the allegations as false. Read the full response from the defenders “This is a case that is being thoroughly investigated, and which may need to be clarified in a court of law. We think it is right that PST is responsible for the investigation, and not news. We are therefore critical of news choosing to run this case. Our clients reject the allegations as false. There are mostly allegations from anonymous sources who may have other reasons for making these accusations. Those who come forward by name refer to claims from other sources that are neither documented nor verified. The sisters had been detained in prison-like refugee camps for almost four years. Before they came to the camps, they lived for several years without personal freedom or self-determination over their own lives in the IS-controlled areas. When they eventually came to the camps, it was also very dangerous for them to express their opposition to IS, due to the fear of reprisals from other women in the camps. It is well known that the conditions in the camps have been criticised. The sisters have been imprisoned without trial and subjected to inhumane treatment. A number of the allegations put forward are linked to alleged episodes that must have happened before they were imprisoned. There is no judgment that documents this. We also find it difficult to imagine that investigation, questioning and legal certainty in these areas correspond to what we are used to according to Norwegian standards.” Allegations of violence and threats In March last year, the women were brought back to Norway – ten years after the Norwegian-Somali sisters escaped from their childhood home in Bærum. The teenagers set course for a country ravaged by civil war. They stayed in areas controlled by the terrorist group IS. In March 2019, they were detained in large tent camps in north-east Syria. The camps are controlled by the self-appointed Kurdish-dominated self-governing authorities. After the sisters left the camp, news spoke to a number of government officials about the Norwegian citizens: Camp chief Rashid Omar said that the sisters were part of a group that attacked women who deviated from the practical and moral rules they believed applied. Rashid named three women he believed had been attacked by the sisters. news has spoken to one of them. She claims her elder sister hit and threatened her. The woman must have been accused of collaborating with the camp management. Bureaucrat Khaled Abed al-Hamid said authorities had information that the two sisters were among the most extreme women in the camps. YPG commander Destin said the sisters took part in a riot and a tent fire in December 2021. The commander also claimed that other women reported being afraid of the sisters, because the Norwegians allegedly warned them to “break with IS’s way”. Hekmyyeh, who is employed at the Roj camp, said the Norwegians were part of a group that beat, threatened and intimidated other women. According to Hekmyyeh, the sisters were part of the moral police in the camp. TALKING ABOUT THE SISTERS: Camp commander Rashid Omar (left), Commander Destin and Khaled Abed al-Hamid of the Administration for Foreign Relations are among the government officials who claim the sisters were part of a violent group when they were detained in northeast Syria. Photo: news The sisters and their defenders say all the accusations are wrong. – There are mostly allegations from anonymous sources who may have other reasons for making these accusations. Those who come forward with names refer to claims from other sources that are neither documented nor verified, said lawyer Hilde Firman Fjellså. – Interesting information for PST Now PST says that they will investigate the accusations that the sisters themselves should have operated as a kind of morality police in the camps. – We are also investigating in our investigation what connection they may have had with IS in the camp. From that point of view, the information that news is now bringing to market will also be interesting for our investigation, says police attorney Terje Michelsen to news. Michelsen leads the investigation against the two Norwegian citizens, who are charged with participation in the terrorist organization IS. The women deny criminal guilt. The defenders of the sisters have previously said that the women have never participated in “anything whatsoever” in connection with IS. They also say that it was dangerous for the sisters to voice their opposition to IS in the camps. DEFENDERS: Lawyers Geir Lippestad and Hilde Firman Fjellså defend the two sisters, who are charged with participation in the terrorist organization IS. Photo: Alf Simensen / NTB The defenders request an investigation The charge against the sisters relates to participation in IS from 2013 to March 2019. This means that PST has mainly investigated the period before the sisters were detained. – But we also see that the way they have behaved in the camp may be suitable for shedding light on the period before they came to the camps, says Michelsen. According to the police attorney, PST is in the process of doing this. Defense attorney Hilde Firman Fjellså assumes that PST is investigating the allegations. – Based on what Michelsen says, I assume that PST is going to investigate these claims in order to get clarity on what has actually been the situation in the camps. It is also something the sisters want, they believe, as mentioned, that the allegations are incorrect. – If PST does not want to investigate this further, we will request investigative steps, writes the lawyer to news.
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– We will investigate further – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
