16-year-old from Stavanger denies criminal guilt for knife attack mission against 14-year-old
The trial of the 16-year-old boy charged with complicity in two murders and three attempted murders began on Tuesday in Sandnes. He denies criminal guilt.
Charged teenager: – I never asked for anyone to be killed
The trial of a 16-year-old boy from Stavanger opened on Tuesday in Sandnes district court. The boy is charged with complicity in two murders and three attempted murders committed in Norway, Sweden and England, reports vg.no.
Because the charges are very extensive, the prosecution has divided the case into separate parts. The first part concerns an attempted murder of a 14-year-old boy in Stavanger in March last year.
The defendant appeared in a black T-shirt and white trousers. When asked to take a position on the charges, he spoke extremely quietly. His defence counsel, Jørund Lægland, subsequently confirmed to vg.no that the 16-year-old does not admit criminal guilt.
"He has not asked for anyone to kill the complainant in the case," Lægland said in his opening address.
Warned by a co-defendant
It was on 13 March last year that police received a crucial tip. A now 16-year-old boy – who also sits in the dock – called police at 09.45 and reported that he and a friend had been given a mission they wished to withdraw from.
Prosecutor Geir Evanger outlined in his opening address what the warning contained:
"The mission was to stab a boy who was on his way home from school," said Evanger.
Police responded immediately. Outside a police officer's house, they arrested a now 18-year-old boy armed with a machete. The prosecution believes the target was the 14-year-old son in the family. The 18-year-old is also charged in the case, but his defence counsel, Stian Kristensen, claims that he never intended to stab the 14-year-old.
According to prosecutor Evanger, the two boys were supposed to receive 30,000 kroner for the mission.
Arrested at Gardermoen – mobile phones expanded the case
The main defendant 16-year-old was arrested three days after the incident, at Gardermoen airport. The prosecution believes he was the one who recruited the two other boys for the violent mission.
Police seized three mobile phones belonging to him. The contents of the phones revealed far more serious matters than the original Stavanger case, and the case expanded significantly in scope.
Connection to Foxtrot and contact with "Agent47"
In addition to the Stavanger case, the 16-year-old is charged with two murders and further attempted murders in Sweden and England. Prosecutor Evanger has previously stated that the two murders "appear to be pure executions by shooting".
The prosecution believes the actions were carried out on behalf of the Swedish criminal network Foxtrot, to which the 16-year-old is connected. They further believe that he was in contact with a person with the username "Agent47" on the encrypted messaging service Signal, and that he received missions from there. Several media outlets have linked "Agent47" to Foxtrot leader Ali Shebab, who was arrested in Iraq in January. vg.no is aware of the same information.
VG has met the parents of 20-year-old Murad, who was shot and killed in Alby just outside Stockholm. In connection with the conviction of the perpetrators in Sweden, it emerged that Murad was not the intended target. In interviews, the 16-year-old allegedly said that the wrong person was shot.
First charges for human trafficking in case involving minors
The 16-year-old is also charged with human trafficking, as a result of the recruitment of the two other boys for the violent mission. According to vg.no, this is the first time anyone in Norway has been charged with human trafficking in a case where minors have been recruited to carry out violent acts.
The prosecution has reserved the right to request preventive detention. The boy thus faces the strictest form of reaction in Norwegian criminal law.