Hem
Tjostolv Moland och Joshua French intervjuades av journalister innan domen avkunnas i Kisangani den 8 september 2009. (Vegar K. Vatn, / TT NYHETSBYRÅN)

Dödsdömde legosoldaten hemma i Norge igen

Den dödsdömde norske legosoldaten Joshua French som suttit fängslad i Kongo-Kinshasa i åtta år har släppts fri och är tillbaka till Norge, rapporterar flera medier.

– I dag är dagen då lösningen är klar. Och vi kan därmed öppna ett nytt kapitel, sa statsminister Erna Solberg under en presskonferens på onsdagen.

Hon sa också att förhandlingarna med myndigheterna i Kongo-Kinshasa varit krävande.

bakgrund
 
Joshua French och Tjostolv Moland fängslades 2009
Wikipedia (en)
The trial and conviction of Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland followed their arrest in May 2009, and their being charged with killing their hired driver, 47-year-old Abedi Kasongo, on May 5, 2009, at Bafwasende, Tshopo District, Orientale Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. French was arrested on May 9 in the Epulu game reserve, around 200 kilometres (120 mi) from Kisangani. Moland was arrested two days later in the Ituri Province, a few hundred kilometres farther northeast. After their arrest, French and Moland were charged with killing Kasongo on the Ituri Road, in the vicinity of the 109-kilometre marker between Kisangani and the Ugandan border. Additional charges against the two included attempted murder of a witness, espionage, armed robbery and the possession of illegal firearms. Their trial, held on August 14, was allowed to take place before a military court because firearms had been used in the crime. However, according to Mirna Adjami, a local representative of the International Center for Transitional Justice, only Congolese police and army soldiers can be tried before a military tribunal; this raised questions as to the court's legitimacy. Norway's foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in 2009, "We have to be realistic about what our Ministry of Foreign Affairs can do". Representatives of the Ministry, including Thorleif Wangen (embassy secretary), observed the trials. On 18 August 2013 Moland was found dead in his prison cell.

Tidigare i ämnet

Omni är politiskt obundna och oberoende. Vi strävar efter att ge fler perspektiv på nyheterna. Har du frågor eller synpunkter kring vår rapportering? Kontakta redaktionen