Life imprisonment in Norway

Last updated

The sentence of life imprisonment under Norwegian law is restricted to the military penal code (e.g. for aiding the enemy during a time of war). In the civilian penal code, a law passed in 2002 allows for an indeterminate penalty that could, in theory, result in life imprisonment. The first Norwegian prisoner ever sentenced to the 21 years' preventive detention (Norwegian : 21 års forvaring) was Viggo Kristiansen, who was convicted of murder and rape, but exonerated in 2022.

Contents

Maximum penalty under Norwegian law

There are three types of maximum penalty laws:

List of people sentenced to preventive detention in Norway

This is a partial list of people sentenced to Preventive detention in Norway since its introduction in 2001.

NameReasonSentencing dateHighest Court sentencingNotes
Viggo Kristiansen Murder and rape 1 June 200129 March 2012
Convicted of what became known as the Baneheia child murders. Kristiansen, along with Jan Helge Andersen, was convicted of raping and murdering Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) and Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) in 2000. In 2021, the sentence of Viggo Kristiansen was set aside due to new evidence indicating that he is innocent. Kristiansen was finally acquitted in 2022 and awarded compensation for wrongful imprisonment. [3]
Yasin Mohammed Jabr Murder, attempted murder 4 February 200317 June 2003Jabr was convicted of the premeditated murder of his wife and the attempted murder of her aunt and his own daughter on 27 July 2001. [4]
Geir Hårstad Murder28 March 2003Did not appealHårstad raped and murdered his 11-year-old step-daughter Kristina Molvik on 28 September 2002. Hårstad had previously served ten years in prison for the murder of his former partner, 19-year-old Laila Helen Lie in 1987. [5]
Lars Harnes Armed robbery 24 February 200520 February 2006A known mobster associated with the Bandidos group, Harnes, together with Daniel de Linde and Petter Tharaldsen robbed DnBs office at Aker Brygge with automatic weapons on 30 August 2004. [6] Released in 2013. [7] Rearrested in 2015, charged with conspiracy to commit murder. [8]
Metkel Negassie Betew Armed robbery15 March 200629 June 2007
Convicted of the NOKAS robbery, the largest robbery in Norwegian history. Released on parole in 2014. [9] Rearrested for serious drug offences in 2015. [10]
Kjell Alrich Schumann Armed robbery and murder29 June 200729 June 2007
Convicted of the NOKAS robbery and of killing a police officer during the robbery.
Ole Kristian Bjørnsen Murder26 March 200929 March 2010
Convicted of the murder of Ragnar Bjertnes Abrahamsen and Jan Petter Aarstad on the "Farm of Death". [11]
Unidentified male (39)Murder11 September 20099 February 2010
On the morning of 22 March 2009, the unidentified man brutally stabbed to death a pregnant Linda Anett Hansen (35), her husband Ole-Roger Olsen (44), and Olsen's mother, Ragna Elida Christensen (61). [12]
Erik Andersen Child sexual abuse and rape14 June 2010did not appeal
The infamous "Pocket Man", Andersen sexually abused and raped over 70 young boys over a 50-year period. [13]
Helge Ivar Breland Pedersen Murder12 February 20108 October 2010Convicted of brutally murdering his former girlfriend, Ann Helen Karlsen. Ann was struck with a hammer, strangled, and her body then dumped in the sea off Tananger on the night of 6 March 2005. Pedersen had previous convictions for violence against his ex-wife as well as the murder of his previous girlfriend's father. [14]
Stig Millehaugen Murder29 April 201128 March 2012
A notorious mobster and hitman, Stig Millehaugen murdered Mohammed "Jeddi" Javed on 19 January 2009 in what was described as a "liquidation". Javed was a known leader within Oslo's criminal underground. [15]
Thor Aage Mathisen Child sexual abuse and extortion 11 July 201114 March 2012
Known as the "Helicopter doctor" due to working as an aeromedical anesthesiologist with the Norwegian Air Ambulance service, Mathisen sexually abused a number of underage girls, including seven cases of rape. He was also convicted of extortion. The case became known as the Helicopter doctor case. [16]
Unidentified male (40)Rape16 October 2011-The case handled by the Oslo District Court is described as one of the worst rape cases in the capital's modern history. The man was convicted of eight different rapes, many of them carried out with violence. Most of the victims told that the man had taken such a powerful stranglehold on them that they were afraid to die and that they gave up resisting. The man originally came from Egypt and was granted residence in Norway in 2002. He had applied for permanent residence on the basis of being homosexual. The victims were all women. [17]
Anders Behring Breivik Murder and terrorism 24 August 2012did not appeal
Committed the 2011 Norway attacks, which killed 77 people and injured over 300.
Unidentified male (56)Child sexual abuse and incest 12 November 2012-
Convicted of raping and sexually abusing his step-daughter over a period of five years, beginning when she was 12 years old. Previously convicted of having an incestuous relationship with his own daughter that resulted in two children. [18]
Unidentified male (38)Rape20 November 201214 March 2013
Defendant drugged and raped five women. Some of the rapes were videotaped, and the case is described as one of the most serious sex abuse cases in Norwegian history. [19]
Unidentified male (48)Rape and death threats against the Prime Minister 12 December 2012-
Convicted of raping his ex-wife as well as making death threats against his step-father Martin Kolberg and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. [20]
Unidentified male (50)Rape and attempted rape 19 January 2013-
Convicted of raping two women and attempting to rape two others. The man, from Vestfold, had previously been convicted of serious sexual offenses including rape, but was released on parole in 2002. [21]
Unidentified male (19)Rape and attempted rape19 January 2013-
Convicted of violently raping a 19-year-old woman as well as brutally assaulting and attempting to rape another. The Somalian immigrant had previously sexually molested at least 11 women. [22] [23]
Unidentified male (45)Child sexual abuse21 March 2013-
The 45-year-old truck driver was convicted of sexually molesting no fewer than twenty boys aged 12 to 16 years. [24]
Unidentified female (49)Child sexual abuse, and physical abuse5 April 201320 February 2014
The 49-year-old woman, known as the "Alvdal-mother", along with her husband, subjected her eldest daughter to severe sexual abuse from the age of five. At the time of her conviction, she was already serving prison time for sexually abusing her two other children, as well as two neighbouring children. A self-declared paedophile with high risk of re-offending, she is the first woman to be sentenced to preventive detention in Norway. [25]
Unidentified male (47)Child sexual abuse, rape, incest and physical abuse12 July 2013-
The 47-year-old father-of-two had previous convictions from 2001 to 2010 when he raped two boys aged 13 and 14. He was this time convicted of raping and otherwise molesting his own children in a five-year period, starting in 2006. [26]
Steven Dan Danielsen Rape and Murder3 March 201419 September 2014The 24-year-old Danielsen, was convicted of the "Aksla-murder". He randomly attacked Anja Weløy Aarseth (21) while she was out jogging in the hills surrounding Ålesund, before raping and murdering her. He was also convicted of attempted robbery as well as making threats against police officers. [27]
Julio Kopseng Rape, aggravated assault13 February 201512 April 2016
The former television dancer and model agency owner was convicted of raping nine women. He was also convicted of aggravated assault against his former partner, who he allegedly raped hundreds of times. At the time of sentencing Kopseng was already serving time in prison for the rape of three other women. [28] The case has been dubbed "One of the most serious rape cases in Norwegian legal history.". [29]
Unidentified male (44)Child sexual abuse, rape, abuse of animals5 October 2016-
[30]
Donatas Lukosevicius Murder25 July 2016Withdrew his appeal
Immigrant from Lithuania. Strangled to death 8-year-old Monika Sviglinskaja, daughter of his former girlfriend, before hanging her in a closet for her mother to find. [31]
Elisabeth Terese Aaslie Murder3 July 2019-
Drugged and murdered her father, as well as her boyfriend. [32]
Philip Manshaus Murder and terrorism11 June 2020Murder of his step-sister, and terror-attack against the al-Noor mosque.
Zikrija Krkic Murder 27 August 2020-
Initially convicted of gunning down two people in a café in the village of Trnopolje in Bosnia with an AK-47 assault rifle on July 28, 2014. [33] However, he was acquitted in February 2022.

As of 2011, there are 76 offenders that are serving a sentence of preventive detention. [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullah Krekar</span> Founder and 1st leader of the Islamic Emirate of Byara and Ansar al-Islam

Najmadin Vahid Faraj Ahmad, better known as Mullah Krekar, is an Iraqi Kurdish Sunni Islamic scholar and militant who was the founder and former leader of Islamist militant group Ansar al-Islam. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Italy, after having been extradited from Norway in 2020. He came to Norway as a refugee from Iraqi Kurdistan in 1991. His wife, Rukhosh Ahmad, and his four children have Norwegian citizenship, but not Krekar himself. He speaks Kurdish, Arabic, Persian, Norwegian and English.

Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non-punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts.

Erik Andersen, also referred to in the media as The Pocket Man, is a convicted Norwegian child molester from Bergen. He was arrested in 2008, accused of molesting hundreds of children since 1976, and in 2010, he was convicted and sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum term of 9 years, with the possibility of extension for as long as he is deemed a danger to society. He was released in November 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baneheia murders</span> Norwegian double child murder in 2000

The Baneheia murders was a double rape and murder, and a miscarriage of justice, that occurred in Norway on 19 May 2000. The victims were two girls, 10-year-old Lena Sløgedal Paulsen and 8-year-old Stine Sofie Austegard Sørstrønen. They were found raped and killed in the Baneheia area in Kristiansand. The murders received massive media attention in Norway in the early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazyar Keshvari</span> Norwegian politician

Mazyar Keshvari is an Iranian-born Norwegian former politician for the Progress Party and a convicted felon who is serving two prison sentences for fraud and violent threats. He was elected as a substitute member of the Norwegian parliament for the city of Oslo in 2013, representing the right-wing and anti-immigration Progress Party, and attended parliamentary sessions from 2013 to 2018 as the substitute of the mandate holder Siv Jensen who has been on leave from parliament during her government service. As a politician he was known for taking a hard stance on immigration, calling for a complete ban on further immigration to Norway, a stop to the practice of accepting asylum seekers in Norway, and the deportation of immigrants convicted of crimes. In 2019 he was convicted of aggravated fraud for defrauding the Norwegian parliament and in 2020 he was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment. He left the Norwegian parliament following his indictment in 2018 and also left the Progress Party in October 2019. In 2019 he was also arrested and charged with making violent threats, and he was convicted and sentenced to an additional four months in prison in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua French</span> Norwegian-born security contractor and former soldier

Joshua Olav Daniel Hodne French is a Norwegian-British man who was convicted of murder in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He worked as a security contractor with his friend Tjostolv Moland when they were arrested in May 2009, and he was later convicted of attempted murder, armed robbery, the formation of a criminal association and espionage for Norway, of which he and Moland were found guilty and sentenced to death. In 2014 he was also convicted of the murder of Moland. He was released in 2017 after serving 8 years of his sentence, and returned to Norway.

The 2011 season was the 106th season of competitive football in Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Behring Breivik</span> Norwegian far-right domestic terrorist (born 1979)

Fjotolf Hansen, better known by his birth name Anders Behring Breivik, is a Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist. He carried out the 2011 Norway attacks on 22 July 2011, in which he killed eight people by detonating a van bomb at Regjeringskvartalet in Oslo, and then killed 69 participants of a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp, in a mass shooting on the island of Utøya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eskil Pedersen</span> Norwegian politician (born 1984)

Eskil Pedersen is a Norwegian politician and former leader of the Workers' Youth League (AUF) from 2010 to 2014, the youth organisation associated with Norway's leading Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ila Detention and Security Prison</span> Prison in Bærum, Norway

Ila prison and detention center is a high security prison in Ila in Bærum municipality in Akershus county, outside the capital city of Oslo in Norway. It is the national preventive detention facility for men in Norway, i.e. the prison for men serving preventive detention (forvaring), Norway's maximum penalty. Ila generally houses the most dangerous criminals in Norway, who are convicted of violent and sexual crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariwan Halabjaee</span> Iraqi writer and human rights activist (born 1963)

Mariwan Halabjaee or Mariwan Halabjayi is an Iraqi Kurdish writer, public speaker, and human rights activist. He is the author of sixteen books and producer of over ninety documentaries, covering topics on theology, psychology, and human rights. He is the author of the book Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam. The book gained international fame when published in 2005, and has since been reprinted eleven times and translated into Arabic, Persian, and Pashto for millions of readers. It is about how Islam and Sharia are allegedly used to oppress Muslim women. "I wanted to prove how oppressed women are in Islam and that they have no rights," said Halabjaee. Halabjaee asserted the book was, "based on Islamic sources such as the Holy Quran, Muslim and Bukhari books and many more." Due to his controversial work, he is often referred to as "the Salman Rushdie of Iraqi Kurdistan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Faiza Ashraf</span> Murder of Pakistani-Norwegian woman

Faiza Ashraf was a 26-year-old Pakistani-Norwegian woman who was kidnapped early in the morning on 3 February 2010 from a bus-stop at Haslum in Bærum, outside of Oslo, while on her way to work. She was later found murdered near the parking lot in Solli, in the neighbouring municipality of Asker.

Rune Øygard is a former Norwegian politician representing the Norwegian Labour Party, who served as mayor of Vågå from 1995 to 2012 when he was granted leave following his indictment for child sexual abuse in a much publicized case, the so-called Vågå case. On 17 December 2012, he was found guilty of child sexual abuse, including sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl, and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. The same day, he resigned as mayor.

The Helicopter doctor case was a case of child sexual abuse in Norway that received broad media attention from 2010 to 2012. A physician from Hamar, Thor Aage Mathisen, was arrested in October 2010 and charged with sexually abusing several underage girls, including 7 cases of rape, and of blackmailing a number of men. At the time, he worked as a consultant at Innlandet Hospital and worked part-time as a helicopter doctor. He thus became known in the media as "the helicopter doctor." In 2011, he was convicted by Hedmarken District Court and again by Eidsivating Court of Appeal to 10 years preventive detention, to pay his victims 2,4 million NOK and deprived of his medical authorization on an indefinite basis. In March 2012 the Supreme Court of Norway rejected to hear his appeal. He served his sentence between 2011 and 2018, mostly in the high security Ila Detention and Security Prison outside Oslo, later in the Kroksrud Penal Labour Camp at Kløfta, and was released on probation in 2018 after serving over 7 years.

Marte Deborah Dalelv is a Norwegian woman, who in 2013, received a prison sentence of 16 months in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for perjury, consensual extramarital sex and alcohol consumption. Dalelv had originally reported a man to the police for an alleged rape but withdrew the rape allegation several days later, saying at that time that the intercourse had been consensual. In court she claimed she had been raped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasmus Hansson</span> Norwegian politician (born 1954)

Rasmus Johan Michael Hansson is a Norwegian biologist, civil servant, environmental activist and a former national spokesperson for the Green Party. He led the Norwegian chapter of World Wide Fund for Nature from 2000 to 2012. In 2013, he was elected to the Parliament of Norway as the first representative for the Green Party.

Terrorism in Norway includes a list of major terrorist incidents where organized groups and lone wolves have tried carrying out attacks. In recent years, there has been a rise mostly of Islamic extremism and far-right violence and various groups have been suspected of terrorism plans.

Eirik Jensen is a Norwegian convicted felon and former policeman who was found guilty of drug trafficking and corruption in 2017. Jensen was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum determinate penalty allowed by Norwegian law. In 2023, he was granted a temporary release from prison for six months; he is scheduled to return to prison in September 2023; he has petitioned that the temporary release gets extended.

Lars Harnes is a Norwegian outlaw biker and gangster who served as the national president of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club in Norway.

References

  1. "Hintergrund: Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit". Zeit Online (in German). 26 July 2011.
  2. "The Penal Code - Lovdata".
  3. Olsson, Svein Vestrum (2022-12-15). "Viggo Kristiansen frikjent i Baneheia-saken". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  4. Kragh, Espen (4 February 2003). "Fikk 21 års forvaring". Bergens tidende. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  5. Haraldsen, Ove Ronny (28 March 2003). "Dømt til 21-års forvaring". Nrk.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  6. Odinsen, Hege (31 August 2004). "Et særdeles brutalt ran". vg.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  7. Widerøe, Rolf. "Bandidos-profil løslatt fra streng soning til frihet" . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  8. Torgersen, Hans (19 Aug 2015). "Politiet mener Bandidos-lederen var på oppdrag som leiemorder" . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  9. "Nokas-dømte Betew løslates". Nettavisen.no. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  10. Widerøe, Rolf. "Nokas-raner var ute på prøve – tatt igjen etter 295 dager i frihet" . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  11. Ihlebæk, Jostein. "Tre dømt, én frifunnet for drap på "Dødens gård"". aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  12. Kippernes, Geir (28 September 2009). "Dømt til Norges strengeste straff 21 års forvaring for trippeldrapet i Tromsø". vg.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  13. Gjestad, Fred (14 June 2010). "Ni års forvaring for lommemannen". aftenposten.no. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  14. Frafjord, Ståle (15 February 2010). "19 års fovaring for drap". Nrk.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  15. NTB (28 March 2012). "Millehaugen dømt til 21 års forvaring". tv2.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  16. Andersen, Øystein (11 July 2011). "10 års forvaring for helikopterlegen (39)". dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  17. "15 års forvaring for overfallsvoldtekter". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  18. Solvang, Trond (12 November 2012). "Pedofil dømt til fire års forvaring". tv2.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  19. Arntsen, Erlend (20 November 2012). "Dømt til 15 års forvaring". vg.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  20. Brustad, Line (12 December 2012). "Martin Kolbergs stesønn (48) får fem års forvaring for trusler mot politikere". Db.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  21. Tørrestad, Yngve (19 January 2013). "Dømt til forvaring for voldtekter". Nrk.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  22. Prestegården, Håvard (19 January 2013). "19-åring dømt til forvaring for voldtekt og voldtektsforsøk". bt.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  23. "19-åring dømt til forvaring etter voldtekt". tv2.no (in Norwegian). 19 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  24. Holm, Per Annar (21 March 2013). "Trailersjåfør dømt til ni års forvaring". Aftenposten. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  25. "Alvdal-moren fikk forvaring - stor fare for gjentakelse". Vg.no. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  26. Torset, Nina (12 July 2013). "Serieovergriper dømt til forvaring". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  27. Walderhaug, Fridgeir. "Dømt til lovens strengeste straff for Aksla-drapet 21 års forvaring". dagbladet. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  28. "Julio Kopseng dømt til 16 års forvaring for serievoldtekter" . Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  29. Hanssen, Inge (2015-11-14). "Julio Kopseng dømmes til forvaring i 15 år". Aftenposten. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  30. Kongsrud, Helle. "Aktor: – Nødvendig med forvaringsdom" . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  31. Røset, Hanna. "Retten om Monikas drapsmann: – Kald likegyldighet" . Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  32. "Elisabeth Terese Aaslie dømt til 21 års forvaring" . Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  33. Røset, Hanna (27 August 2020). "Ekssoldat dømt til 21 års forvaring for dobbeltdrap i Bosnia" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  34. "Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service" . Retrieved 5 February 2015.