- A court in Oslo found Marius Borg Höiby guilty of two counts of rape.
- Höiby received four years in prison and can appeal against the sentence.
- The judge also found Höiby guilty of assaulting former partner Nora Hauklandová.
An Oslo court on Monday found Marius Borg Höiby, the son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced him to four years in prison. The judgment can be appealed. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the AFP and Reuters agencies.
Twenty-nine-year-old Höiby, whom Mette-Marit gave birth to before her wedding to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, he was charged with 40 crimes including raping four women, domestic violence, violating a restraining order and assault. If found guilty in full, he faced 16 years in prison.
According to The Guardian, the judge also found him guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, influencer Nora Hauklandová – the only victim whose name was published.
The one rape for which he was found guilty occurred at the official residence of his mother and the crown prince in 2018. On the contrary, in the other two cases of rape, Höiby was acquitted.
He must also pay restitution to four women, including two of his ex-girlfriendsinforms DPA with reference to the Norwegian media.
The son of the crown princess has pleaded not guilty to the most serious charges against him, including rape. Höiby has been in custody since February 1 and he was not present in person at the court hearing, but joined via video call, the BBC reports.
The prosecution asked for a prison term of seven years and seven months for him. His defense attorneys proposed a lower sentence of 18 months.
His mother Mette-Marit has had several problems in recent months. Therefore, Höiby’s lawyers have repeatedly requested that he be released from custody so that he can spend time with his mother. The District Court in Oslo last week agreed to the dismissal in this regard, but the Court of Appeal overturned this decision and rejected the request.
The Guardian notes that this trial came at a difficult time for the Norwegian royal family, which was hit in January by a scandal related to documents about American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It follows from them that the crown princess was in contact with Epstein between 2011 and 2014.
