Aljazeera– An Oslo district court has sentenced Marius Borg Hoiby, the stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, to four years in prison for rape and other crimes after a seven-week trial that further tarnished the image of the royal family.
Hoiby, 29, became part of the royal family when his mother, Mette-Marit, married Haakon in 2001.
The court convicted Hoiby of two counts of rape as well as domestic violence against his former partner Nora Haukland and narcotics offences. He was acquitted on two other rape counts, with judges finding insufficient proof that the encounters were nonconsensual. One of the rapes he was convicted of took place in the basement of the crown prince’s official Skaugum residence.
While denying the rape charges, Hoiby had pleaded guilty to domestic abuse and transporting 3.5kg (7.7lb) of marijuana in 2020.
Hoiby will appeal the verdict, his lawyer Petar Sekulic told dailies VG and Aftenposten. The prosecution said it would consider appealing after digesting the full 127-page verdict.
“This is a victory for our justice system,” said prosecutor Sturla Henriksboe. “No one can get away with serious criminal acts based on who they are or who they are related to.”
The trial captivated Norway, laying bare Hoiby’s struggles with drug addiction, self-recorded footage of intimate encounters and a trove of more than 800 electronic messages submitted as evidence.Hoiby, who has been in custody since February 1, did not attend the reading of the verdict in person, citing undisclosed medical reasons. Local media reported he followed proceedings via a secure videolink from Oslo Prison, where he remains held.
During the trial, Hoiby spoke about growing up adjacent to the throne without an official title. “I’m mostly known as my mother’s son, not anything else,” he told the court. “So I’ve had an extreme need for recognition my whole life, and that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs and a lot of alcohol.”
Haakon distanced the monarchy from the case, telling reporters that Hoiby is not a member of the Royal House and faces the same legal accountability as any Norwegian citizen. “He is a citizen of Norway and, as such, has the same responsibilities as everyone else,” Haakon said.The royal household declined to comment on Monday. “The matter has been considered by the courts, and we have no comment on the outcome,” a spokesperson said.
Like other low-key Scandinavian monarchies, the Norwegian royals have had an image of a loving and relatively low-profile family, sending their children to state schools and enjoying skiing and surfing alongside members of the public.
But Hoiby’s trial, coinciding with Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s apology for contacts with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has hurt their popularity.
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