I spoke with Tjostolv yesterday. The conditions are terrible! The electricity has been missing again; it’s very hot and humid in the cell, around 40 degrees Celsius. Yesterday he drank more than 7 liters of water! It’s screaming and noises around the clock. They have double hearing protection, but they still wake up all the time if they can sleep at all, because of the heat. He says that they struggle with eating because of the heat, and they’ve both lost a lot of weight.
This can’t go on for much longer!
It’s inconceivable that the Norwegian Foreign Ministry can tolerate these conditions for Norwegian citizens! They know very well what’s going on. They are in contact with them on the phone, and no doubt they read this blog.
As you all know an extradition process is initiated. If nothing happens soon it will be too late!
The result for the Foreign Ministry is of now 0,00!
1. Both of them have been abused and tortured, kicked and beaten. We haven’t seen any reactions to this. The Foreign Ministry have said several times that “they are doing fine, under the circumstances”!
2. When Tjostolv had brain-malaria and was severely abused at the “hospital” we saw no reaction from the Foreign Ministry!
3. There has been said that they were going to be transferred to Kinshasa for more than a year now. The Foreign Ministry couldn’t possibly have made too much of an effort to make this happen! Result is 0,00.
4. Every doctor is scared to treat them after the doctor treating them got arrested during the trial. They don’t have any possibility for medical care if they get sick. The Foreign Ministry will have to send someone to try and arrange something. By then it can be too late.
5. Many papers have written that the verdict of espionage was abolished in the last “trial”. This is NOT accurate; they are sentenced to death for espionage in favor of Norway. Anyone can read the “verdicts” here on the website. Fact is that they are sentenced to death for espionage in favor of Norway, when Norway at the same time via different organizations contributes with more than 25 million dollars a year, and now waived 22 million dollars in debt plus interest. In addition to this we are apparently spending about 167 million dollars from the Rain Forest Fund in Congo. So NO ONE can say that the Foreign Ministry doesn’t have anything to bargain with!
6. Everybody knows that they aren’t spies, the Foreign Minister has said it straight out. That is in fact a miscarriage of justice. You don’t need much imagination to understand that the rest of the verdicts are miscarriage of justice as well!
7. We now put all our faith in that they are transferred to Kinshasa VERY soon, and that the process from there will happen quite fast.
8. If nothing happens, and this drags out indefinitely the boys will die in prison in Kisangani.
9. If that happens one thing is for certain, the scandal will be complete, and Norwegian press will go ballistic! I have faith that since this is one of the largest cases in Norwegian press history, every detail will come forward. I’m sure that investigating reporters will find out who did what and who did not…
This case has been a tragedy in many acts. If it ends with death for the boys, the final act should be that all responsibility be placed where it belongs. I actually think that Norwegian press will make that happen.
Knut Moland November 23rd 2010
