Prosecutor seeks over seven years in prison for Crown Princess’ son | Royal | News
The son of Norway’s Crown Princess should be sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison, the trial prosecutor told an Oslo court on Wednesday. Marius Borg Høiby faces a total of 40 charges, including the rape of four women, as well as domestic violence and other crimes.
Høiby denied the four rape charges against him. But he pleaded guilty “in part” to multiple driving offenses, aggravated drug offenses and violating a restraining order, as well as menacing and aggravated assault.
The seven-week trial, which ends Thursday, has become one of the biggest the country has ever faced, as the future King details his stepson’s drug addiction, videos of sexual encounters he made himself and more than 800 electronic messages entered into evidence.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, chief prosecutor Sturla Henriksboe announced the sentence he was seeking on 40 charges against Høiby; Investigators said these charges occurred while the alleged victims were asleep or unconscious.
Mr Henriksboe told the court that Høiby should be treated like any other citizen, facing neither a harsher nor a lighter sentence because of his ties to the Norwegian Royal Family.
In a tearful statement last week, Høiby said intense media coverage of his trial had made him an “object of hate” and portrayed him as a monster, leading to anxiety and clinical depression.
“Høiby is not a monster. None of us are,” Mr. Henriksboe said at the beginning of his closing remarks on Monday. “He should be punished for what he did, not for who he is.”
Høiby is the son and husband of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the stepson of the future King, Crown Prince Haakon.
The Crown Princess also faces several challenges regarding her health, as she has a chronic disease called pulmonary fibrosis and is expected to undergo a lung transplant soon.
The court ordered the media not to provide any information that could reveal the identity of any of the four women. It is also forbidden to take any photographs of Marius Borg Høiby inside the court building or on the way to and from the hearing.
