Marius Borg Høiby News & Current Events Part 1: December 2023 -


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Why up til now has Marius not been questioned, interrogated or charged with his crimes? It seems unjust and unfair that so much time has gone by and Marius gets to relax while his victims has faced multiple rounds of interrogations.
I'm speculating, but I'd guess his attorneys are still negotiating with the police and the prosecution about what questions they can ask and he will answer. That could lead to a plea agreement.
 
Why up til now has Marius not been questioned, interrogated or charged with his crimes? It seems unjust and unfair that so much time has gone by and Marius gets to relax while his victims has faced multiple rounds of interrogations.
He was scheduled to be interrogated last week but his attorney cancelled it as he was unable to attend, and they scheduled it for this week instead… The police are not allowed to keep him unless there is a risk that he would flee the country
 
I'm speculating, but I'd guess his attorneys are still negotiating with the police and the prosecution about what questions they can ask and he will answer. That could lead to a plea agreement.
Not sure that's how it works in Norway.
 
He was scheduled to be interrogated last week but his attorney cancelled it as he was unable to attend, and they scheduled it for this week instead… The police are not allowed to keep him unless there is a risk that he would flee the country

This looks bad. Is justice not heralded as being swift in Norway? Can Marius' lawyer keep making excuses that he's not able to attend and keep delaying and delaying police questioning and interrogation? Or is there a deadline for this?
 
To be fair, I have to give credit to Haakon for answering questions from the media - I know its almost just expected in Norway where the RF seem to speak to the media quite often compared to many other countries - it wasn't a perfect answer for sure but at a time you can't and don't want to say a lot he did okay IMO.
 
You are so right.

Dagbladet:
The press attacked Haakon, as if he were Jonas Gahr Støre in a cabinet crisis. Hard, to the point, with anything but servile royal house journalism.
He has never been treated like this before. The scandals have obviously meant that the glass wall, which has protected the royal house for one hundred and twenty years, was gone. He was free game. Treated like any other human being, in any other media storm.
Now the scandal is already enormous. You would hardly think it could get any bigger. And it is apparently unstoppable. The European press has also jumped on the bandwagon. Now every smallest gram of cocaine must come to light. The silk gloves are not just off, they are thrown in the trash.
Haakon looked downright terrified at times.
Yes he looked very strained indeed. The level of stress must be very high with the upcoming farce of a wedding on top!
 
It's to be expected that the finger of blame would at some point be directed to the mainstream media. (The politicians and civil servants and the court officials will get their turn soon.)
Unfortunately for the NRF, the consequence of the media realizing they were guilty of silence is that they will be much more rough on the NRF. Especially when Haakon becomes king. They won't risk being accused of covering up for the NRF.
So for the next few years the NRF is in a for a very critical press coverage and that will of course influence the public opinion about the NRF. - After a while the coverage will become more mellow.
It may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, because it will force the NRF to be much more aware of their public image and perhaps begin to act more decisively about problems concerning the NRF.
Often you grow as a person when facing challenges and Hakon needs to grow a backbone. Now out of necessity.

You should always try and find something positive in anything and here the NRF has the opportunity to be masters of crisis management.
So basically we have hit the “Juan Carlos and the dead elephant” moment in Norway, it seems.
 
This looks bad. Is justice not heralded as being swift in Norway? Can Marius' lawyer keep making excuses that he's not able to attend and keep delaying and delaying police questioning and interrogation? Or is there a deadline for this?
I don’t know about deadlines, but as it seems to have been a one-off cancellation, the police definitely approved of it…

Would there be longstanding issues with the lawyer, he would likely be switched out
 
It could be just me but I don’t buy the story that Marius was already not attending M-L’s wedding this weekend. I definitely think that he would have been there with his family had this story not come out!
 
Not sure that's how it works in Norway.
I'm not, either, but we've seen reports that the attorneys are negotiating with the police, so they're certainly discussing something before he is questioned.
 
It could be just me but I don’t buy the story that Marius was already not attending M-L’s wedding this weekend. I definitely think that he would have been there with his family had this story not come out!
He skipped his mother's (and stepfather's) 50th birthday party last year (whether that was his own choice or whether it was 'suggested' to him), so it is within the realm of possibility that he was indeed not planning to attend his stepfather's sister's second wedding.
 
Is there a reason for the speculation that the investigation is taking unusually long or that there is something unusual about the police waiting to question Marius until they have heard from the victims? I haven't seen any indication of that in the reports I've read.
 
What is the purpose of Marius (or any other member of the Royal Family) having both a diplomatic passport and an ordinary passport?
In Australia, to apply for a diplomatic passport, you need to have a valid and current passport. I know the US and the UK are the same. Perhaps Norway does the same too. As he is a private citizen, he would need an ordinary one to keep his official

As he holds a diplomatic passport, I wouldn't be surprised if the Norwegian media are trying to find out where he has used it under FOI.
 
In Swedish Expressen:
The photo of Marius Borg Høiby is a millstone around Haakon's neck
"I haven't seen them. What photos are we talking about?”
Prince Haakon's staccato is meant not to reveal what is going on beneath the surface.
To use as few words as possible when a photo already said more than thousand words ...
Because it's clear he's seen the photo - otherwise he should fire his chief information officer.

Marius will be questioned this week.
The police do not want to comment on exactly when and where the questioning will take place.
- He has not been questioned yet. It will be carried out during the week, writes press manager Unni Grøndal in an SMS to VG today afternoon.
 
Is there a reason for the speculation that the investigation is taking unusually long or that there is something unusual about the police waiting to question Marius until they have heard from the victims? I haven't seen any indication of that in the reports I've read.
I don't believe so. To be honest, I know nothing about the Norwegian criminal justice system and I'm just using the US criminal justice system as a reference in my head.
Here in the US there is no way such a highly publicized case involving violence against women in which there is clear evidence and the victims have been interrogated( in some cases multiple times)- yet the alleged perpetrator has not been questioned by police.
 
Hardly spying.
It's more likely the security police contact the police in Oslo, where Marius live and ask: What do you know about Marius?
The local police respond: We've had a couple of incidents with groups where Marius was involved. And while investigating X and Y we noticed Marius. And our informants tell us...
Then they ask the bodyguards at Skaugum: What have you noticed about Marius? Perhaps looking through videos to see if any of Marius friends who visited Skaugum are known by the police. And if there is a post Marius has to pass to enter and leave Skaugum, there is likely a log as well, which will be looked at.
At some point they will get a heads up that Marius and co are at a nightclub and the security police will send someone to keep an eye on him. I.e. anyone known by the police in the group? Who appears to be leading the group? What's the group dynamics? How does Marius interact with various members of the group? (If he is clearly subservient to a particular member, that person may have a hold on Marius.) Where is Marius in the pecking order? Do they appear to be under influence of something other than alcohol? - I doubt the observer will intervene unless something really serious happens. Collecting information being more important in this case.
- All that is submitted in a report, perhaps along with credible gossip and accounts from people who have seen something. (Likely to be something the local police will have or tell more or less informally.) That report is send up through the system. The Norwegian security police report directly to the Ministry of Justice, not to the head of the police.
- So no bugging, no tracking, no shadowing, merely a few conversations, reading some reports and a bit of observation.

What do you expect the police to do?
They submit their reports and then it's up to someone else to do something. That someone else is ultimately the NRF.
So either the reports don't reach the NRF or the NRF ignore/dismiss the reports/tell the police to mind their own business.
I'll leave it to you to decide what you find most likely
The word spying seems to bring men in black coats with gadgets instead of what security, intelligence services, means for countries today.

As far as I know, Norway is a democracy with powers divided between Parliament, Government and Judiciary. The Royal House doesn't have real power but it's still the Head of the State of the land. Intelligence security will have a finger on anyone close to the office that can pose a threat to national security. It means that if Marius was dealing in cocaine with known drug cartels, they'll know it. From then on, none of us know what happens next.

Likely, Marius will have a dossier linked to the Home Office/Interior ministry about this. He was still very young when the problem started and the issue may not have been raised to the PM level as it wasn't a national security issue. Or it may have been, and the PM would have communicated the concerns to Harald. We don't know.

Harald is 87 and in poor health. Anyone of having experienced living with a parent of the same age, will know they no longer have the physical or cognitively capacity to deal with these kinds of problems, which means Haakon will be the one dealing effectively with them

I think the Royal House have known for a long time about Marius problems but those problems were not seeing serious enough for the Home Office to step in, and they deferred the problem as a private family issue for the Royal House to solve and deal with.
 
Juliane Snekkestad's lawyer Petter J. Grødem says that this has been a burdensome case for her. She has already been in three police interviews, fourth is planned for Wednesday. For Juliane's part, there is great tension linked to what Marius has to say about the accusations.
- She has had a desire to tell her story to the police. She has done that, and she will continue to do that. It is important for her to know how he reacts to this. It has been burdensome for her to wait for him to be questioned. That the questioning was postponed is a further burden. Now we hope that it will happen soon.
What are your expectations for Høiby's explanation? How is your client looked after now?
- I don't think I should comment on that. She is being taken care of, but I don't want to go into that further.
Nora Haukland was questioned last week, but no further questioning of her is planned. She takes part in the recording of a TV program now. Nora's lawyer John Christian Elden says that depending on what Marius admits, it will highlight the need for further questioning of Nora.
 
So it seems the one-week postponement is out of the ordinary, which I think makes it likelier that it is related to the case as opposed to being, say, due to the lawyer having a family emergency.
 
Juliane Snekkestad's lawyer Petter J. Grødem says that this has been a burdensome case for her. She has already been in three police interviews, fourth is planned for Wednesday. For Juliane's part, there is great tension linked to what Marius has to say about the accusations.
- She has had a desire to tell her story to the police. She has done that, and she will continue to do that. It is important for her to know how he reacts to this. It has been burdensome for her to wait for him to be questioned. That the questioning was postponed is a further burden. Now we hope that it will happen soon.
What are your expectations for Høiby's explanation? How is your client looked after now?
- I don't think I should comment on that. She is being taken care of, but I don't want to go into that further.
Nora Haukland was questioned last week, but no further questioning of her is planned. She takes part in the recording of a TV program now. Nora's lawyer John Christian Elden says that depending on what Marius admits, it will highlight the need for further questioning of Nora.
Interesting that she wants to see what Marius has to say. Wouldn’t it be normal to see what the court has to say? I mean, is she having an argument with Marius using the judicial system as an intermediary?

The whole thing smells fishy. I have no doubt that Marius is an entitled aged brat. That he’s using drugs. That he has a dubious entourage. That he at least misused the diplomatic passport. That he is abuser material. Even his only statement is ridiculously hypocrite (“my love”, really?)

But: the first incident was reported by a friend, not by the victim. The victim seems happy to continue to have contact with him/at least passing time with him and/or continuing to live with him.

The previous girlfriends conveniently found their voices just now, even though it seems they were older than the current (?) one at the time of the abuse.

I would be more prudent in seeing all this affair as being black and white.
 
Since there have been various comments about "my love" (please excuse me for not going back and quoting them all) in Marius's statement:

My understanding, as a non-Norwegian speaker, is that "kjæreste" is used as the normal term for a romantic partner, in the same manner that "girlfriend" or "partner" are used in English. So "min kjæreste" in Norwegian does not carry the same saccharine emotional connotations as "my love" in English, even if the literal meaning is the same. In that sense it is closer to "my girlfriend/boyfriend" or ''my partner".

I would appreciate if it Norwegian speakers would comment.
 
Interesting that she wants to see what Marius has to say. Wouldn’t it be normal to see what the court has to say? I mean, is she having an argument with Marius using the judicial system as an intermediary?

The whole thing smells fishy. I have no doubt that Marius is an entitled aged brat. That he’s using drugs. That he has a dubious entourage. That he at least misused the diplomatic passport. That he is abuser material. Even his only statement is ridiculously hypocrite (“my love”, really?)

But: the first incident was reported by a friend, not by the victim. The victim seems happy to continue to have contact with him/at least passing time with him and/or continuing to live with him.

The previous girlfriends conveniently found their voices just now, even though it seems they were older than the current (?) one at the time of the abuse.

I would be more prudent in seeing all this affair as being black and white.

Of course what Marius has to say is interesting for Juliane and Nora. They find out if he admits the domestic violence or not. I'm sure we will find out at the court hearing why Juliane and Nora didn't report the violence previously. And I don't think they were much older than this third woman at the time of the abuse. Juliane is now 29 (they were together from 2018 to March 2022), Nora 27 (they broke up in early July 2023) and I think this third woman is about 25.
 
Of course what Marius has to say is interesting for Juliane and Nora. They find out if he admits the domestic violence or not. I'm sure we will find out at the court hearing why Juliane and Nora didn't report the violence previously. And I don't think they were much older than this third woman at the time of the abuse. Juliane is now 29 (they were together from 2018 to March 2022), Nora 27 (they broke up in early July 2023) and I think this third woman is about 25.
Oh, my bad, I understood that the latest girl was 20. I’m sorry!
 
Interesting that she wants to see what Marius has to say. Wouldn’t it be normal to see what the court has to say? I mean, is she having an argument with Marius using the judicial system as an intermediary?

The whole thing smells fishy. I have no doubt that Marius is an entitled aged brat. That he’s using drugs. That he has a dubious entourage. That he at least misused the diplomatic passport. That he is abuser material. Even his only statement is ridiculously hypocrite (“my love”, really?)

But: the first incident was reported by a friend, not by the victim. The victim seems happy to continue to have contact with him/at least passing time with him and/or continuing to live with him.

The previous girlfriends conveniently found their voices just now, even though it seems they were older than the current (?) one at the time of the abuse.

I would be more prudent in seeing all this affair as being black and white.

Okay, except that nothing about this is actually unusual but the most common scenario in cases of domestic abuse. I don't know why it's supposed to be fishy, this is what happens with domestic abuse.

First of all, most women who experience domestic abuse never report these incidents. Many remain in these relationships or marriages for many, many years. That does not mean that they did anything at all to cause the abuse.

Why? You'd have to ask a psychologist for all the reasons, but some are

- They love the abuser.
- They believe the abuser when he says that he loves them and it won't happen again.
- They are emotionally manipulated by the abuser.
- They feel sorry for the abuser, who tells them poor me, I've got so many problems, I need you to help me.
- They would feel embarassed in front of family, friends and society at large.

It gets even more complicated in this case, no matter how old these girls are. No one can tell me that it is easy to report a head of state's family member to the police, to go to court against them and potentially have people all over your country doubt your story.

Why is it easier (though still not easy) now? Because one case was already known to the police and the public. Therefore the chances were already higher that they would be believed.

They saw that despite who Marius' family are, police was taking action. I don't know how you could be 100% sure of that in advance. Even in a democracy, it is a very big deal to go against the head of state's family member in a court of law in my opinion. I know I would be nervous to do so.
 
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Since there have been various comments about "my love" (please excuse me for not going back and quoting them all) in Marius's statement:

My understanding, as a non-Norwegian speaker, is that "kjæreste" is used as the normal term for a romantic partner, in the same manner that "girlfriend" or "partner" are used in English. So "min kjæreste" in Norwegian does not carry the same saccharine emotional connotations as "my love" in English, even if the literal meaning is the same. In that sense it is closer to "my girlfriend/boyfriend" or ''my partner".

I would appreciate if it Norwegian speakers would comment.
You are right, " kjæreste" is the same manner as "girlfriend". My love is "min kjærlighet".
 
Marius was questioned today.
Marius has been questioned in Oslo on Tuesday evening, police inspector Henriette Taxt Røstadli confirms in a short update to the press. She did not want to comment further today.
- He was questioned this afternoon, but he has not finished being questioned. We aim for new interrogations when it suits all parties, says lawyer Bratlien to NRK.
The woman's lawyer Mette Yvonne Larsen says her client appreciates that Høiby has now been questioned.
- We are very happy that Høiby has now been questioned. We have waited a long time for that, and my client appreciates it.
What does your client think that it has taken so long to conduct the interview?
- Yes, it has taken a long time, but it is also due to circumstances beyond Høiby's control, as I understand it.
Larsen adds that they will try to plan another questioning of the victim next week.
John Christian Elden, Nora Haukland's lawyer, says they are excited about the content of the questioning.
- We are excited about the content, whether he has taken responsibility, or whether the case continues with witness interviews and evidence gathering that will drag the case out further, he writes in an SMS to NRK.

Here's an article where editors and journalists from various newspapers/medias talk about publishing the Bild photos. Some of them have published the photos, some haven't.
TV 2's royal house expert Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen:
- I think people can see the difference. It does not go to the core of the monarchy as an institution. It will certainly be talked about in the finer salons around Europe's castles, but it is more on a family basis. These images do not harm King Harald and Queen Sonja - or the crown prince couple - in their work as our foremost ambassadors.

I see Schulsrud-Hansen's statement as a little odd now, especially if there will a trial and in it comes information about Mette-Marit's (and Haakon's) actions in possibly covering up what Marius has done.
 
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Nora Haukland is looking forward to focusing on other things and getting away for a bit at her TV-program recording. She writes on Instagram that the past few weeks have affected her, and that she is now ready to put her phone away.
“I strongly believe that the universe places all events at the right timing. The last few weeks have affected me. They have taken and they have given. Now is the time to switch off the phone, test myself for something completely new, and have experiences that I know I will appreciate for the rest of my life. I am incredibly grateful for everything this life offers me, I am lucky".
 
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Even though this is a horrible case, I am really pleased that Juliane and Nora have told their story. I also hope that Marius take this seriously, and get some help ASAP. My heart is going out for MM and H♥️
 
Bild published yesterday evening a third photo of Marius with a black T-shirt with the inscription "F*** The Kingdom", which is supposed to be a kind of parody of quotes from the Disney film "The Lion King" and which several online stores have variants of in their range.

Marius' lawyer Øyvind Bratlien met the press in the Oslo district court, where he is with another case.
Bratlien does not want to go into detail about Marius' questioning: I can't say anything now, we're not done yet.
When are new interviews scheduled?
- It is not planned yet - we have to see when people have time.
The threat charge, has he decided on it now?
- He hasn't decided on anything yet.
Can you say something about how things are going with Høiby?
- I can't say anything about that.

Nora Haukland thanked her followers on Snapchat yesterday for their support in recent weeks, but also reminds them that there is a person on the other side.
"Remember not to lose sight of what the case is really about. There is a person on the other side who must take responsibility for his actions, but who also deserves a fair trial. I am not in favor of witch-hunting, condemnation and public pillory. I've been through it before, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
This morning in a new message, she says that despite her accusations she will always have a lot of love for her ex.
"He is a person for whom I will always have a lot of love, and yes, he needs help. What has happened is not good, but seeing friends sell photos to the press is hard to see. Everything hurts me".
Nora never mentions Marius by name, but as mentioned, several photos of Marius in controversial situations have been shared in German Bild.

Juliane Snekkestad has finished her explanation to the police at her fourth hearing.
For her part, it is important to know how Høiby reacts to her accusations, according to her lawyer.
- We register that new interrogations of Høiby will be carried out when "people have time". You should find time for that now. It does something to the overall load not to know how he stands. What we now hope is that they can now find time for new interrogations of Høiby.
Although Juliane has now finished his explanations to the police, Grødem does not rule out that there may be further questioning - depending on further investigative steps in the case.

Diplomatic passports are only for official use and must not be used for private travel, says the Foreign Ministry. Then you must use the normal passport issued by the police.
There are limited opportunities to check which passports have been used in passport controls abroad. There are no examples of misuse of diplomatic passports in recent times.
The royals are not considered private individuals traveling, and only have diplomatic passports. Marius Borg Høiby, on the other hand, has an ordinary passport which he will use for private travel.
(..)
 
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