Hoksund (VG) Anders Beseberg, 77, opened Friday with a fierce settlement with prosecutors in the trial against him. He received an apology in return.
“I barely slept last night,” Beseberg began before a district court judge in Hoxund.
He said it was because of something that happened at the end of Thursday's court session:
The prosecution then played several audio clips stemming from Beseberg's 2017 and 2018 wiretaps. Many of them were between Volker Schmid (owner and consultant of the rights company APF/Infront) and Bseberg.
There was just one problem: One of the clips wasn't with Schmid, even though the prosecutor thought so. Beseberg immediately heard that the person he was talking to in the phone conversation was not Schmid, and pointed this out. The district court judge also noted that the voice sounded somewhat different from Volker Schmid's.
Okokrem promised to investigate the case and come back to it later in the case.
On Friday morning, Beseberg spoke in Room 2 of the Buskerud District Court:
-I was very upset at the end of the day yesterday. So present the evidence as you did Known Not right. So why put before the court something that is not valid?!
District Court Judge Beseberg replied:
– In such cases, you may need the defendant to point things out in order to make things right. Here you have done it. Økokrim will then investigate whether there was an error. It was good that you brought this up so we can confirm this. He said the court assumed that this was not intentional.
Then Senior State Prosecutor Marianne Djobsland took the floor today.
-Peseberg was absolutely right. It was not Volker Schmid who was on the phone. I apologize in court today, and I will do so today. There was a human failure somewhere. Someone has mistakenly dialed the number. It was unfortunate that this happened, and I understand that it is frustrating for the accused. But I must stress that this was not intentional. We did not want to mislead the court or the accused.
Bessberg didn't seem impressed:
-I am not willing to accept an apology or remorse. Although I understand that and appreciate coming to court now. “I think people who have been working on this full-time for six years should figure this kind of thing out early,” Beseberg replied.
Beseberg stressed that he trusts the judges in the case.
– Don't get me wrong, but I think the time is not right for a trial. They also have a duty to provide objective things in my favor. I haven't tested that yet. It's easy to skip that. Here it can be said, “What I said previously is true.” The prosecution tried to sprinkle as much salt as possible on the open wounds!
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Follow the trial of Anders Besberg
Pieseberg was visibly angry on the witness stand.
He said – This is the mistrust that has accumulated towards the prosecution.
Friday is the last day that Peseberg will be questioned by prosecutors in the trial against him. There will be no court hearing on Monday, before the first witnesses arrive at the District Court in Hoxund from Tuesday.
Beseberg will be questioned on Friday about the fishing trips in the Czech Republic, as well as the BMW X5 paid for by the rights company Infront – to which Volker Schmid was linked -.
Bseberg has been accused of gross corruption since his time as president of the International Biathlon Union (IBU). He led the union for 25 years before police raided his farm in 2018.
The trial continues until February 16.
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