A Norwegian court on Thursday sentenced 14 days in prison to a former contractor wagner group — the private Russian military company known for its brutal tactics — for disturbing public order and carrying a BB gun in a public space.
The Oslo court acquitted Andrey Medvedevawho is seeking asylum in Norway, to commit acts of violence against police officers during his detention, according to his lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes. Police officers detained Medvedev outside a pub in the Norwegian capital in February after a fight broke out inside the bar.
Medvedev admitted resisting his arrest and spitting at the officers as they handcuffed him, but denied kicking them, the lawyer said after his client appeared in court on Tuesday.
“It is very good that he has been acquitted of the most serious charges,” Risnes told the Norwegian newspaper. Dagbladet after Thursday’s verdict.
Medvedev also declared guilty of carrying a BB gun going to a pub in the center of Oslo in March. He fled to Norway earlier this year, crossing the country’s 198km border with Russia illegally, and has said he fears for his life if he is returned.
Medvedev said he agreed to join the Wagner Group from July to November 2022, but left the group after his contract was extended without his consent. He has said he is willing to testify about any possible war crimes he has witnessed, although he denies having participated in any himself.
According to reports, Medvedev previously told the Russian dissident group Gulagu.net that he was ready to tell everything he knew about the Wagner Group and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin — a millionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Soldiers working for the private contractor are fighting on the front lines in Ukraine, as they have in Mali.
The Wagner group, the mercenary militia led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, businessman from the circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, looking for men throughout the country to take them to fight on Ukrainian territory. In fact, months ago Prigozhin personally toured different Russian prisons to recruit 1,000 convicts to fight for Moscow.
The military is not registered as a legal entity anywhere in the world. Their clandestine existence allows Russia to downplay its battlefield casualties and distance itself from atrocities committed by Wagner’s fighters, observers say. United Nations investigators and rights groups say Wagner elements have attacked civilians, carried out mass executions and looted private property in conflict zones.
(With information from AP and EFE)
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