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On Wednesday this week, two police officers traveled from Trysil to Amsterdam and picked up the man. He is now in custody for eight weeks.
The man was supposed to have appeared in the Sør-Østerdal District Court last fall, charged with several sexual assaults against two underage girls. Abuse of one of the girls is defined as rape.
– These are sexual acts with minors under 14, so it is a serious case, says Inland Police District Police Inspector Henning Klauseie.
Wanted in Europe
But before the trial arrived at the Sør-Østerdal District Court last fall, the man escaped.
PROCEDURE: Police expect the man to appear in Sør-Østerdal district court in the autumn.
Photo: Linda Vespestad / NRK
Since then, the police have been actively working to find him. What made the difference was the so-called European arrest warrant.
– So all European countries have put it in their systems as requested. And when he recently showed up at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, he was arrested by Dutch police and detained there, says Henning Klauseie.
In the circle of friends
A girl was only 10 years old the first time the man allegedly raped her.
Both girls are said to have been subjected to various assaults in 2016 and 2017. The man is said to have touched them under their clothes.
The man is originally from Eritrea, but has lived in Trysil for many years. The two girls were in his circle of friends, but they are not related.
Assistance attorney Iren Johnsen says the girls are happy the man has been arrested and taken into custody.
– It has been a burden that they have had to wait and have not been able to close the case, says Johnsen.
He will demand reparation on behalf of one of the girls during the trial.
In the race
The man’s defense attorney, attorney Helge Hartz, says the defendant accepted custody for eight weeks.
He still does not know what the man has done and where he has been the year he has been on the run.
– I will have a meeting with him next week and still cannot say anything about what he has done this year, or how he reacts now to the accusation, but he has not pleaded guilty before, says attorney Hartz.
Do not escape
Police Inspector Henning Klauseie says his goal is to have the retrial resolved during the fall.
CUSTODY: Police Inspector Henning Klauseie says they will keep the man in custody until trial this time.
Photo: Trond Ivan Hagen / NRK
Last year, the man was not jailed, which gave him the opportunity to escape. It won’t happen this time.
We have plans to keep him in custody until there is a final trial in the case, Klauseie says.
