In March last year, terrorist suspect Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale (44) was arrested in Yemen, after being internationally wanted for a number of years. Dale will now be imprisoned in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, a city controlled by the Houthi movement.
Dale converted to Islam in 2008 and visited Yemen several times before finally leaving Norway in 2011.
He is said to have joined al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and in 2014 he was charged by the Police Security Service (PST) with participation in a terrorist organization.
Anders Dale (35) charged with terrorism, wanted internationally
– Demand for rights
Now his defenders, Patrick Lundevall-Unger and Arvid Sjødin, are fighting to have the Norwegian extradited to Norway.
Lawyer Arvid Sjødin explains that they have had a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF) about the case.
– It is quite obvious that, regardless of what they suspect him of, he is a Norwegian citizen and thus entitled to rights. Then one should not sit in captivity without law or judgement. It violates human rights, says Sjødin to Dagbladet.
He says that they know very little about how things are going with the Norwegian, and where he actually is. That is why they want to get UD on the field.
WORKING FOR RETURN: Lawyers Arvid Sjødin (pictured) and Patrick Lundevall-Unger. Photo: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet Show more
Reply from Huitfeldt
Tobias Drevland Lund, parliamentary representative for Rødt, has also become involved in the case.
In the Storting, he has asked former foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) questions about which investigations the Foreign Ministry has carried out which means that they are not working to bring Dale home to Norway.
The response from Huitfeldt makes his lawyers stiff.
In the reply to the Rødt politician, the foreign minister writes, among other things:
“People who stay in such areas expose themselves to an increased risk, including that the foreign service may have few or no opportunities to assist them should something happen. This is also the case in Yemen”.
RESPONSIBILITY: Former Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt replies that even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked with assisting Norwegians abroad, that does not exempt them from their own responsibility. Photo: Lars Eivind Bones / Dagbladet Show more
Furthermore, Huitfeldt answers:
“Traveling to and settling in an area with the highest level of travel advice therefore implies an acceptance of risk, regardless of what the purpose of settling there was. This also includes Norwegian citizens who had to stay abroad with the purpose or consequence of evading criminal prosecution in Norway”.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs emphasized that even though the foreign service’s task is to assist Norwegian citizens abroad, this does not exempt the individual from their own responsibility.
The Story of Zaniar Matapour (42)
– Disclaimer
– I would go so far as to say that this is a disclaimer of responsibility from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. You have not understood the core of the case or do not want to understand it, says lawyer Patrick Lundevall-Unger.
He emphasizes that the problem is not that Dale went to Yemen voluntarily and did not follow Norway’s travel advice, but that he is “unlawfully held captive by the Houthi movement”.
REBELS: The Houthi movement is considered enemies of al-Qaeda, and controls parts of Yemen. Here from a celebration in September this year. Photo: Reuters / NTB Show more
Lundevall-Unger is clear that Dale’s human rights have been violated, and that his right to a safe trial has been violated. The lawyer points out that the law requires the foreign service to provide assistance to Norwegian citizens abroad, including assistance in connection with criminal prosecution, accidents, illness and death.
– The aid here is completely absent and this cannot be accepted, as well as the complete disregard of essential human rights – we cannot have it like that. Furthermore, Norway must have an interest in protecting Dale’s right to a fair trial, which includes his right to be able to explain himself, says the lawyer.
– Can’t claim assistance
Dagbladet has been in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the criticism. In the meantime, Huitfeldt has resigned as foreign minister.
Press spokesperson Siri R. Svendsen confirms that there was a meeting with the lawyers at the beginning of September.
In a comment she says the following:
– Consular assistance is provided on an individual basis and after individual assessments in each individual case. Thorough assessments have been made in this matter. No Norwegian citizen can claim consular assistance, or decide for themselves what kind of assistance they should receive.
Dagbladet has previously received confirmation that the Norwegian authorities have considered Dale to be one of the greatest threats to the West, which has come from Norway.
This is because he is said to have received a completely different training than, for example, the Syrian fighters who fight for the Islamic State (IS) and other similar groups.
– Al-Qaeda stormed into a bank owned by Shaher Abdulhak, and stole huge sums
Should have received bomb training
Where IS fighters are often trained in combat actions, Dale is said to have received training from al-Qaeda in Yemen as a solo terrorist – allegedly from Ibrahim al-Asiri, the group’s notorious bomb maker until he was killed in an American drone attack in 2017.
In 2012, several European security services leaked that Dale was suspected of having taken part in terrorist plans against the Summer Olympics in London.
In 2015, the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was subjected to a terrorist attack by the brothers Said and Chérif Kouachi, who claimed to be acting on behalf of al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Last winter, PST informed Dagbladet that the terrorist charge against Dale has not changed.
– The charge stands, said police prosecutor Haris Hrenovica in PST.
2023-10-18 18:38:09
#Raser #understand
