This has been yet another shameful day in the Congolese judicial system.
In the condition Tjostolv is at the moment he can confess and write anything. We still don’t know who arranged the famous meeting between Tjostolv and the widow and her family. He has been overly medicated, forcefully medicated, and his state of mind is very unstable. It says a lot about the judicial system in Congo when Congolese authorities and investigator Wawara carries on like this. The president of the judges thought that Tjostolv needed to make a “therapeutical” confession. What kind of nonsense is this? To (ab)use a sick person like this is totally unacceptable. Tjostolv has on the phone with both lawyer Furuholmen and Rune Edvardsen made it clear that all he meant was to tell the widow how sorry he was for her loss and that he didn’t know who killed the driver.
Lawyer Marius Dietrichson who is there now on behalf of Furuholmen did not get permission to see Tjostolv before the trial started today. He had to stand outside the room and shout and scream to Tjostolv. This evening he has visited Tjostolv.
Joshua has been sick for about a week without seeing a doctor in prison. He is tired. The electricity comes and goes, so he sits alone in the dark in the evenings.
I saw on VG’s online newspaper today a person asking if the families can have contact with them. The answer was that the families can call to the prison. That’s not true. There are a lot of things that have to match for us to get in contact with the boys. Tjostolv has gotten a phone at the hospital, so the family can call him. At the moment it is easier to get a hold of him.
Kari Hilde French, November 10th 2009
