A full Pardon for Joshua French is not likely, but there has been progress in the efforts to get him transferred to Norway, according to Foreign Minister Børge Brende.
This as a response to a written question from the Christian Democrat Steinar Reiten directed to the Parliament. The answer was posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry and initially published by the newspaper Dagen on Saturday.
Brende refers to the answer to a written question from April last year, when Congo where reviewing a possible Pardon.
– Since that time, we were informed that a Pardon is no longer as likely, writes Brende.
He maintains that the State Department makes it possible to support French, who is serving under difficult conditions.
– the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now working with the Congolese authorities to see if Joshua French can be transferred to Norway for other reasons, and there has been progress in the case over the past year, maintains Brende.
He also writes that there is a close dialogue with the UK authorities on the matter.
Joshua French, who has both Norwegian and British citizenship, is sentenced to death for complicity to murder, possession of weapons and espionage. He is also sentenced to life in prison for killing fellow Norwegian Tjostolv Moland in prison. In May, he will have served in Congolese prisons for eight years.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
