Prosecutors seek more than seven years in jail for son of Norway’s crown princess

Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway’s crown princess, should receive more than seven years in prison if he is found guilty of 39 offences, including four rapes and assaults, according to prosecutors.On Wednesday, the penultimate day of the more than six-week-long trial at Oslo district court, the prosecution said it believed that Høiby was guilty of 39 of the 40 offences with which he was charged, which, as well as rape and domestic abuse, include multiple breaches of restraining orders, assault, drug and driving offences.One of the offences, violation of a restraining order, has been overturned. Høiby, 29, has pleaded guilty to several relatively minor offences but denied the alleged rapes.After the final day of the trial on Thursday, it could take several months for the judges to make a decision.During the trial several alleged victims have taken the stand, including Høiby’s former partner, the influencer and reality TV star Nora Haukland. It has attracted considerable media attention domestically and abroad.It comes at a time of unprecedented crisis for Norway’s royal family.Høiby’s mother, Mette-Marit, is under growing pressure to explain her links with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after emails published in January by the US justice department in the Epstein files. The royal palace this week said Mette-Marit, who has pulmonary fibrosis, would not be participating in an upcoming state visit because her health had deteriorated.The prosecution said Høiby should be imprisoned for seven years and seven months. It also requested that he be banned from contacting one of his alleged victims for two years, and asked for the confiscation of several devices, including three iPhones and a MacBook, the removal of his driving licence and a two-year driving ban, after which he will have to take a new driving test.The state attorney, Sturla Henriksbø, said: “These are very serious acts. It is among the most serious offences in our criminal code to apply to violations of integrity. And it should entail a strict and tangible reaction in each case.”The accusation that he filmed the alleged abuse, said Henriksbø, “involves an increased violation of the women”.The police attorney Andreas Kruszewski said Høiby should not be awarded a “penalty discount” as a result of the widespread media attention on the case.“The fact that you commit criminal acts after the media spotlight has been directed at you as a well-known person contributes to the fact that he should not receive a reduction in sentence,” he said.