Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Norway shopping centre stabbing victim dies, other in critical condition

A 17-year-old girl has died from wounds suffered during Wednesday’s stabbing incident at the Sørlandsenteret shopping centre in Kristiansand.

Published: 27 July 2017 15:38 CEST
Norway shopping centre stabbing victim dies, other in critical condition
The Coop store where the stabbing incidents took place was closed on Thursday. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB scanpix
The other stabbing victim, a 23-year-old woman, was still in critical condition as of Thursday afternoon. 
 
“The deceased is Marie Skuland, 17 years old from Kristiansand. She was employed as a summer worker at Coop Obs Sørlandsenteret,” acting prosecutor Cecilie Pedersen Hille of the Agder police district said.
 
The two stabbings occurred in different locations within the Coop store on  Wednesday evening. 
 
A 15-year-old girl has been arrested for carrying out the attacks. 
 
Critically injured
At a press conference on Thursday morning, police reported that the injured 23-year-old had been flown to Oslo University Hospital during the night after initial treatment at Sørlandet Hospital.
 
“Her condition is considered critical,” Hille said.
 
The police are now investigating whether there is any relationship between the victims and the 15-year-old, but so far they have nothing to indicate any previous connections. 
 
“This occurred in a large shopping mall with many employees and a lot of witnesses. We are asking witnesses to make themselves known and we need more information about what happened,” Hille said. 
 
Suspect escaped from child welfare centre
According to police, the 15-year-old suspect had escaped from a child welfare institution earlier in the day. The suspect was known to the police prior to this incident. 
 
“She has been questioned but the interrogation had to be cancelled because of her condition. She has been admitted to the child and adolescent psychiatric department in Arendal,” Hille said. 
 
The girl’s defence lawyer, Hege Klem, said that she has met with her client but that they did not discuss the stabbing attack. 
 
“She was not able to be questioned. She is in deep despair,” Klem told NTB.
 
An expert has been appointed to assess the 15-year-old’s mental condition. She faces charges of murder and attempted murder. 
 
Chaotic scenes in shopping centre
According to witness reports, the 15-year-old suspect was seen moving through the shopping centre with a large knife in her hands.
 
“She was young, shouting and crying. It was hard to understand what she said. But it sounded like she was calling for help,” one of the witnesses, Sebastian Storaas, told Fædrelandsvennen. 
 
Several of the stores in the shopping centre locked their doors to shield customers and employees while the drama was unfolding.
 
According to one witness, the girl picked up a knife from a sushi restaurant, but it is uncertain whether this is the same knife used in the stabbings. 
 
Kristiansand Municipality has activated its crisis team to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
 
“This is deeply tragic and an incredibly sad event. Our thoughts and deepest compassion go to the family of the deceased and the injured,” municipal spokesman Jørgen Kristiansen said. 
 
The Coop Obs supermarket in Sørlandssenteret was closed on Thursday but planned to open its doors again on Friday. 

CRIME

Norway’s ex-biathlon boss jailed for three years for corruption

A Norwegian court on Friday sentenced a former international biathlon boss to prison for three years and one month for accepting bribes, primarily from Russian officials, including luxury watches, prostitutes and hunting trips.

Published: 12 April 2024 16:53 CEST
Norway's ex-biathlon boss jailed for three years for corruption

Norwegian Anders Besseberg, the 78-year-old head of the International Biathlon Union from 1993 to 2018, was found guilty of nine of 10 counts of aggravated corruption during the period 2009-2018, charges he denied.

“I am of course disappointed and surprised about the verdict and some of the judges’ reasoning. I am appealing on the spot,” Besseberg told the court after the judge read out the 67-page verdict over the course of almost three hours.

“The defendant breached the trust that came with his position at the IBU by accepting the benefits,” judge Vidar Toftoy-Lohne at the Buskerud district court said.

The prosecution hailed the verdict.

“There is a lot of money in circulation in international elite sport. The federations manage substantial financial assets and make decisions that are important for both athletes and the business community,” prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said in a statement.

“We hope this verdict can contribute to raising awareness and that it will have a preventive effect,” she said.

Prosecutors had sought a jail term of three years and seven months and a fine of one million kroner ($95,000).

The court did not hand down a fine, but ordered Besseberg to return gifts amounting to 1.4 million kroner.

Besseberg admitted accepting gifts but dismissed the notion that corruption was involved.

“Even if I received expensive gifts and was invited by many to go hunting, I must stress that I never let myself be corrupted,” he told the court during his trial, media reported.

Russian shadow

As head of the IBU when the Russian doping scandal exploded in the 2010s, Besseberg was accused of initially hiding cases of Russian doping in his sport in exchange for favours.

Prosecutors dropped that line of attack, but in Norway, receiving improper favours, even if no services are provided in exchange, is enough to constitute corruption.

Russia’s shadow nonetheless hung heavily over the case.

According to an inquiry launched by Sweden’s Olle Dahlin, who succeeded Besseberg as head of the IBU, Besseberg pushed to hold the 2021 biathlon world championships in Tyumen, Siberia, despite the Russian doping scandals.

The contest was eventually awarded to Pokljuka in Slovenia.

Prosecutors argued that Besseberg went on fully paid hunting trips in Austria and in the Czech Republic, and for seven years drove a leased BMW X5, all paid for by Infront, a marketing company that held television rights to the sport.

They argued he was given three watches worth a total of more than 30,000 euros ($33,000), invited on trips to hunt deer and wild boar, and offered services from sex workers, all paid for by Russian officials.

Asked about an Omega watch worth more than 17,000 euros he received in 2011 for his 65th birthday, he said: “I did not think it was undeserved.”

The court said two of the three watches he received constituted corruption.

Besseberg also denied any contact with sex workers, acknowledging only what he said was a consensual affair with a 42-year-old Russian.

SHOW COMMENTS