One of the many lawyers representing victims of last summer’s terrorist attacks in Norway has been removed from the case by the Oslo City Court (Oslo Tingrett) that appointed him. Sigurd Klomsæt was “withdrawn” after the court ruled he had leaked confidential documents to Norwegian media.
Klomsæt declined to comment on the withdrawal of his appointment other than to say he intended to appeal it, reported newspaper Aftenposten.
Police in Oslo had asked the court to remove Klomsæt after submitting evidence that they could track police photos of confessed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik that were published on various websites to Klomsæt. The court agreed the evidence was sufficient to conclude that photos published on VG Nett, NRK.no, dagbladet.no, Aftenposten.no and ABCnyheter.no were the same photos police had sent to Klomsæt.
Klomsæt’s client had asked that Klomsæt be allowed to continue as what’s called a bistandsadvokat in the massive legal case over the terrorist attacks on July 22.
Klomsæt’s removal has left Norwegian media in an awkward position, and shown how online publishing can jeopardize media attempts to protect their sources. Most editors involved have defended their decision to publish the new photos of Breivik, even though their leak violated confidentiality laws.
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