Men jailed for Norway yacht waterboarding

Kristiansand district court sentenced the 23-year-old man to six and a half years in prison for kidnapping, torture, and aggravated robbery. His 21-year-old accomplice was sentenced to spend two years and eight months behind bars, according to the local Fædrelandsvennen newspaper. 

The verdicts were both much stricter than the sentences recommended by the prosecutor, who had argued that the men be sent to jail for five years and five months, and one year and six months, respectively. 

"The two victims were subjected to brutal, unscrupulous treatment. Their detention and the violence inflicted upon them was without justification," the verdict stated. 

One of the victims aboard the yacht had been beaten and subjected to waterboarding, a torture technique that simulates drowning and that officials with the CIA in the United States confirmed had been used on al-Qaeda suspects. The victim has subsequently been diagnosed as suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. He was kept detained for more than 24 hours.

The second victim was detained for four days, subjected to beatings as well as being burned and tazered. The assailants emptied his bank account. 

Both attackers were under the influence of narcotics during the assaults, which took place in October 2012.