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Norwegian man convicted for narcotics smuggling in 2008 is released on bail in Bolivia

BOLIVIACOCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA.Courtroom.Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / SCANPIX

A Norwegian/Bolivian man imprisoned in Bolivia for cocaine smuggling in 2008 has been released on bail.

The man was the last to be imprisoned in the so-called ‘Bolivia case’, in which Madeleine Rodriguez, Stina Brendemo Hagen, and a third Norwegian woman, were arrested at Cochabamba Airport in Bolivia after 22.4 kilograms of cocaine was found in their luggage.
 
The man was released on Monday, and given notification duty, with bail set between 80,000 and 100,000 kroner, his Norwegian lawyer, Bjørn Aksel Henriksen, told VG newspaper.
 
The Norwegian citizen was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Bolivia in 2009. The sentence was later increased to 20 years. The last judgment was appealed by the prosecution, so isn’t enforceable.
 
The lawyer announced that he will attempt to bring the entire case to court with reference to Bolivian limitation periods.
 
When the ‘Bolivia case’ was in Borgarting Court of Appeal in Norway in 2012, the man admitted recruiting three Norwegian girls to smuggle cocaine to Norway.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today