Norwegian prosecutors on Friday acquitted a man who served nearly 21 years in prison for the rape and murder of two girls in a shocking case that becomes one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the country’s history.
Viggo Kristiansen, who has always claimed his innocence, was sentenced twice, in 2001 and 2002, to the longest sentence at the time, 21 years in prison, which could be extended, for the rape and murder of Stine Sofie Sorstrønen, 8, and Lena Sløgedal Paulsen, ten.
The two girls were found dead in May 2000 after bathing in a lake in a forested area (“Baneheia”) in the south of the country. The case had deeply shocked Norway.
Apologies from the police and the attorney general.
The reopening of the case last year discredited the testimony of co-defendant Jan Helge Andersen, who had implicated his friend Viggo Kristiansen, weakened the DNA evidence and pointed out that his phone was located a good distance from the crime scene at the alleged time of the attack. crime. the events.
“The case had profoundly tragic consequences, in particular for Mr. Kristiansen, who served more than 20 years in prison and was thus deprived of much of his life, and those close to him,” said Attorney General Jørn Sigurd. Maurud. , on Friday during a press conference. “I want, therefore, on behalf of the prosecution to offer my sincerest apologies for the injustice that has been committed,” he said.
The General Directorate of Police and the police district that conducted the investigation also apologized.
financial reparations
The Norwegian media sees the case as “one of the most serious miscarriages of justice” in modern Norwegian history, if not the most serious.
Released last year, Viggo Kristiansen, now 43, could claim more than 30 million crowns (more than 3 million euros) from the state in financial reparations, according to his lawyer. His acquittal has not yet been formally pronounced by a court, but now there is no doubt.
“If the appeal court pronounced the acquittal, it would be one of the biggest legal scandals in recent Norwegian history,” Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl reacted.
By also presenting an apology conditional on a final decision by the court, he announced the creation of an independent investigation committee to clarify the dysfunctions that led to the conviction of Viggo Kristiansen.
His co-defendant, Jan Helge Andersen, who had received a more lenient sentence of 19 years in prison for his collaboration with investigators, will be the subject of further investigations, the prosecutor said.
Source: BFM TV
