Svein Ludvigsen, a 73-year-old former government minister and county governor in Troms, has withdrawn a last-ditch appeal of his conviction for abusing his power to obtain sexual favours from three young male asylum seekers. That means he’ll need to start serving a five-year jail term.
“This is not an acknowledgement of guilt,” claimed his defense attorneys in a joint statement issued just before the weekend. They referred to it rather as “a consequence of how the court has denied him a full round of appeals” on various portions of his conviction.
Norway’s Supreme Court had rejected an earlier appeal from Ludvigsen, who was convicted by both a local and appeals court in Tromsø. That meant Ludvigsen, who was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing the power of his position as county governor, would only be able to appeal parts of his conviction back in the appeals court.
“Ludvigsen realized that a partial court review would have little effect on his sentence, and present too large of an ordeal for both himself and his family,” his attorneys wrote in a press release. They added that Ludvigsen, once a top politician for the Conservative Party, would now “prepare himself to face his punishment going forward.”
newsinenglish.no staff
