User:Sebbog13/Viggo Kristiansen

Viggo Kristiansen (born 1979) is a norwegian man that was convicted of miscarriage of justice. He was wrongly convicted 13th February 2002 in Agder court of appeal wrongly judged for rape and murder on two girls at Baneheia in the year 2000. After he served 21 years in prison he got released in February 2021 pending resumption of the part of the sentence that concerned the Baneheia murders. Riksadvokat Jørn Sigurd Maurud asked 21st October 2022 that he would be acquitted from the Baneheia murders. He was acquitted in the Baneheia murders by Borgarting court of appeal 15th December 2022. Both Kristiansen and the prosecution passed the sentence, and the acquittal is therefore legally binding.

Maurud held in October 2022, before the criminal case against Kristiansen was to be heard again, that Kristiansen is innocent and that those around him should regard him as such.

Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl, politidirektør Benedicte Bjørnland, politimester Kjersti Askholt at Agder politidistrikt and riksadvokaten stated in October 2022 their apologies to Kristiansen. They described the verdict in the Baneheia case as one of Norway's biggest legal scandals. The Minister of Justice decided in October 2022 that an investigation into the matter should be launched.

Kristiansen at the trial in 2002, also convicted for matters other than the Baneheia murders. Those parts of the sentence were not resumed in 2022. In addition to the criminal part of the trial, in 2002 Kristiansen was also sentenced civilly as liable for damages to those left behind after the Baneheia murders. After Kristiansen was acquitted in December 2022 of the murders that took place in 2000, the civil judgment must be requested to be annulled so that the compensation claim against Kristiansen will lapse.

In 2002, Kristiansen was sentenced to 21 years detention and was incarcerated from 2000 to 2021, from 2002 as a prisoner on probation at Ila prison and detention center. The verdict in the Baneheia case in 2002 was based mainly on Jan Helge Andersen's explanation, supported by, among other things, Kristiansen's psychological profile and history of abuse, behavior which the Court of Appeal characterized as suspicious, DNA traces which, according to the experts, opened up to two perpetrators without linking Kristiansen certain to the deed, and inconsistencies in his explanation.

Original quote"Det er veldig enkelt for meg å si at når en person har sittet over 20 år i fengsel og så blir frifunnet, for det kommer han til å bli, så er det en betydelig rettsskandale. ... Saken har fått dypt tragiske konsekvenser, især for Kristiansen, som altså har sonet over 20 år i fengsel og dermed har blitt frarøvet store deler av sitt liv. Hans nærmeste har lidd et ufattelig tap. Jeg vil derfor på vegne av påtalemyndigheten på det sterkeste beklage den urett som er begått."

Translated into English"It is very easy for me to say that when a person has spent over 20 years in prison and then is acquitted, because he will be, then it is a significant judicial scandal. ... The case has had profoundly tragic consequences, especially for Kristiansen, who has thus served over 20 years in prison and thus has been robbed of large parts of his life. His loved ones have suffered an unimaginable loss. I would therefore, on behalf of the prosecuting authority, strongly apologize for the injustice that has been committed."