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Alicia’s father jailed over Cambodia abduction

The father of Alicia Elfversson, the six year-old Swedish girl who he abducted and took to Cambodia, has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison by a district court in Gothenburg.

Published: 14 October 2008 15:31 CEST
Alicia's father jailed over Cambodia abduction

Back in June 2007, then 47-year-old Torgeir Nordbo had told the girl’s mother, Maria Elfversson, that he was taking Alicia on a two week vacation.

At the time, Elfversson was living in Gothenburg and raising the then five-year-old Alicia, against the wishes of Nordbo, who lived in Thailand.

After not hearing from Alicia’s father for several days, Elfversson later learned from a lawyer that Nordo had taken the girl on an “extended vacation”.

Following more than a year in hiding, during which time Nordo had cut Alicia’s hair in attempt to disguise her as a boy, he was arrested in Cambodia in July and brought back to Sweden to stand trial.

Prosecutors sought and succeed in having Nordbo convicted of unlawfully separating the child from her legal guardian (egenmäktighet med barn), for which he is to serve 18 months in prison.

In addition, the court ordered Nordbo to pay 88,000 kronor ($12,450) in damages to the girl’s mother and 40,000 kronor to Alicia.

CAMBODIA

Austrian far-right politicians under fire for praising Cambodian vote

Austria's foreign minister on Friday (Aug 10) distanced herself from comments made by two of her far-right party colleagues, who described Cambodia's July elections as "very professional".

Published: 11 August 2018 08:38 CEST
Austrian far-right politicians under fire for praising Cambodian vote
Freedom Party (FPOe) MP Axel Kassegger travelled to Cambodia with Johannes Huebner, a former FPOe parliamentarian. Photo: AFP

Freedom Party (FPOe) MP Axel Kassegger travelled to Cambodia with Johannes Huebner, a former FPOe parliamentarian, to observe the July elections at the invitation of the Southeast Asian country's long-serving leader Hun Sen.

Hun Sen's (seen below) ruling party is expected to take all 125 spots in parliament when official results are announced next week, cementing Cambodia's status as a one-party state.

The controversial election was held without the main opposition party on the ballot after it was dissolved by a Cambodian court last year.

Photo: AFP

Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told Austrian news agency APA that neither she nor her ministry was aware of the two men's trip.

“At no time did we have any contact to these election observers and (access to) their opinion,” she said, adding she was unsure how the invitation to them had come about.

Kassegger and Huebner have been widely criticised over what they said was a “private trip”, where they met Cambodian officials.

The party of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (middle) won an estimated 100 out of 125 parliamentary seats in the recent election, in which more than 82 per cent of those registered to vote did cast a ballot.

Austria's foreign ministry has previously said that the Cambodian elections were not based on “fair and democratic principles”, in line with concerns expressed by the EU, the US and non-governmental groups. Austria currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Criticism of Kassegger and Huebner has also come from a top politician from the People's Party (OeVP), which has ruled Austria since December in a coalition with the FPOe.

OeVP EU parliamentarian Othmar Karas described the pair's comment as a “provocation” that was counterproductive to Austrian and European interests.