Free French and Moland!

At exactly 2015hrs on 18th November, I got a notebook from Joshua in my hands.  It is 26 pages long and handwritten.  I had already been contacted by journalists on Monday evening (16th November) regarding the notebook.  There were further calls.  Some journalists were so cheeky that they asked if they could actually get the notebook themselves!

What astounds us is that the media don't seem in the slightest interested in the article which has been shown on the website, concerning the breaches of human rights that Joshua has experienced during the Congo case.  From this material, there could have been some exciting headlines, such as "Simulated execution, loss of sight."  Er, "Threats to Kill Family in Norway!", or even "Filmed for Propaganda", or "Beaten - blood in urine."

But no, no interest whatsoever for the human rights that have been breached for these two Norwegians.

And the press haven't even called us about Furuholmen's interviews with the three young men who attended the training camp in Uganda.  Do the media really have no interest in what they have to say about the case?  There was a huge ruckus when VG published their own stuff, not least of all about this dog.  Aftenposten were actually given a unique chance to write about it, but made little of it.

Rune Edvardsen and Mathilde Moland had a complete flock of newspeople on their tour to Kisangani.  The money from the "Inmate to Inmate" donations facilitated amongst other things 2 tonnes of food deliveries to the two prisons.  No-one, with the exception of one journalist, was interested in attending the distribution of the donated-funds food supplies at the infamous Osi prison.  It should have been of interest to write about how conditions were at the prison where Tjostolv and Joshua nearly ended up.  And it should have been of interest to write about how the two Norwegians compassionate care for their fellow inmates has resulted that the donation account was set up, and that aid has been initiated after a very short time.  In addition, Dr Erild and two Congolese doctors treated around 55 prisoners on the Sunday that the team was there.

So, what are the press interested in?  I don't know.  And if they've not been interested in all this, then we really don't understand why the contents of the notebook should be so interesting either.  We will probably publish something, and then leave the rest.

Kari Hilde French, 21st November 2009

What's new?

Approximately 2 tonnes of foodstuffs have been given to prisoners of Osio Prison, which is outside Kisangani town, and to fellow prisoners of Joshua and Tjostolv in the Central Prison.  These foodstuffs were bought with money that has been donated to the 'Fanger hjelper Fanger' (Inmate to Inmate) account.

Today, the delegation that Rune Edvardsen was with left to continue their journey.  Mathilde Moland and Dr Fjær are on their way to Europe.  There has been a lot of media coverage of Mathilde's journey and meeting with Tjostolv.  This is of course very tiring, but it has been good for son and mother to meet.  By the way, Colonel Wavara was very satisfied that he got Tjostolv's beret that his mother had taken with her from Norway.

The lawyer Marius Dietrichson, who is in Kisangani to support the boys and to give advice, is no longer allowed to meet them.  In fact, he has been accused of having tried to climb over the prison wall on Saturday night.  The military have accused Furuholmen and the local lawyer of having poisoned Torstolv when he was sick with malaria.  (Furuholmen was already back in Norway.)  Now they don't want a repeat: i.e. that Dietrichson might try to poison Moland!  This tells you a little about the difficult situation down there.  The level of security is therefore increased.

When Dietrichson was in a meeting with the leader for the military tribunal, he saw the letters Tjostolv was supposed to have written with the secretary.  There are in fact two letters, not just one.  Tjostolv only remembers writing that he was sad that the widow has lost her husband, but that he didn't know who had killed the driver.  These letters, as far as we know, were written under duress.

Kari Hilde French, 16th November 2009

Both on the phone to me and to the media, Joshua has said that his human rights have been ignored on many occasions.  Some have been mentioned in the media, and others I've heard about over time on the phone with my son.  Others have come to my attention through the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.  I have collected some of these breaches in this article.  The reader should be aware that I am only mentioning some of the cases here: there is a lot we want to wait with.  For one, we want to protect the boys against revenge attacks.  Tjostolv has most likely experienced much of the same, but it's up to him and his family to decide if they want to release details.

Surrender and imprisonment - early hours of Friday 8th May.

When Joshua was arrested, he tried to give himself up several times, but several hundred shots were fired at him as he lay in a ditch.  Several soldiers were shooting at him.  Joshua had no weapon of any description.  When the soldiers accepted his surrender, he was extremely harshly treated.  Below is some of what the Foreign Ministry described as 'unacceptable treatment':

Joshua was tied up extremely tightly, whilst shots were still flying past his head.  Everything he had with him was stolen.  The rope they used to tie him had metal filaments.  He was tied up so hard that he was worried he would be permanently injured.  After that, he was kicked and hit extremely violently, with blows aimed at the kidneys.  There was blood in his urine the following day.  He was hit on the head several times with a torch.  After that, he was dragged along the ground on his back with his hands still bound behind his back.