GARDERMOEN (VG) On the night of Wednesday, the two Syrian sisters accused of terrorism and their three children landed in Norway.
This is confirmed by PST and the sisters’ defender Geir Lippestad to VG.
The two arrived together with their three children at Oslo Airport via Frankfurt shortly after 00:30 Norwegian time. They were driven away shortly after they got off the plane.
– PST has arrested two women who returned from Syria on the night of Wednesday, says director of communications, Trond Hugubakken.
They will be produced for detention as soon as possible, he explains.
Glad the kids are safe
Lippestad and colleague Hilde Firman Fjellså, met VG after talking to their clients, an hour after they arrived.
They explain that the arrest went smoothly. The women were aware that they were going to be arrested.
– We have had good cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a long time. Both women cooperate well with the police. It was important that it took place in a way that was good for the children, and it did, says Lippestad.
– It has been a long journey, but they are happy to have arrived and that the children have arrived in a safe country, says Fjellså.
Hugubakken from PST explains that Child Protection was involved with regard to further care for the children.
He also confirms that it was an undramatic arrest.
Asking questions about human trafficking
The two sisters do not admit any criminal guilt.
– They believe they have done nothing criminal and are looking forward to explaining themselves to the police so that they get a correct story about what happened, says Lippestad.
He points to potential human trafficking as an important issue in the investigation, and refers to another IS woman who believed she was a victim of this.
A covert operation
The return journey takes place almost ten years after they left Bærum as teenagers for Syria to join the Islamic State (IS).
VG reported on Tuesday that the sisters were about to be brought home to Norway in a secret operation.
According to VG’s information, the women are now 29 and 25 years old. The oldest of the sisters has two daughters, the youngest has one daughter. The fathers of the children were affiliated with IS.
The children are entitled to Norwegian citizenship through their mothers. It is the consideration for them that has been decisive for them being brought home, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated earlier on Tuesday.
Also read: Wrote a book about the sisters accused of terrorism: – Very good for the children
1 / 3
Huitfeldt: – Out of consideration for the children’s lives and health
– I have concrete information that shows how dangerous it is to grow up in these camps in terms of nutrition, disease and the risk of radicalisation, said Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) during a press conference on Tuesday evening.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two women themselves asked for help to return with their children. Huitfeldt will not answer VG when they asked for this.
– Assistance in this case is done out of consideration for the children’s lives and health and on the basis of concrete health information reviewed by medical expertise in Norway, said Huitfeldt.
The reason why the Norwegian authorities have not taken these children out earlier is that it is not possible to take the children out alone from the camps without the consent of the parents, writes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The fact that the mothers now asked for assistance made it possible to get them out together.
The public prosecutor in Norway believes that so-called IS women – who often look after children and houses – support and are part of the terrorist organization IS.
The Bærum sisters are both charged with participation in the terrorist organization and will probably be arrested by the Police Security Service (PST) when they arrive in Norway.
– I cannot understand it. Taking care of children and family is not a crime. We kept the house clean and tidy, nothing more than that, said the youngest of the sisters to VG last year.
It was in October 2013 that the two sisters disappeared from the family home in Bærum in Viken. The two girls were then 16 and 19 years old and both have a Somali background.
For several years afterwards, their father tried to bring them home to Norway, but without success.
According to the father, the girls had been normal, school-going girls who had undergone rapid radicalization over a few months.
VG overview: 100 Islamists went from Norway to Syria to participate in holy war. This is the legacy of IS.
SE: In 2019, VG was the only media in the al-Hol camp, shortly after the riots:
