Andrei Medvedev, a former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, said he hopes to be given asylum in Norway after an Oslo court on Thursday cleared him on charges of violence against police.
“I want to thank the court for a fair ruling,” Medvedev told Reuters after the verdict, adding that he was studying Norwegian. “I hope I will get asylum,” he said.
Medvedev, who fled to Norway in January, had been accused of resisting arrest and kicking an officer as he was being led to a police car after a bar fight.
His lawyer argued that it was a “misunderstanding,” saying that Medvedev did not kick the police officer but instead was moving about because the handcuffs hurt.
In a separate incident in March, Medvedev was caught with an air rifle in a bar in downtown Oslo. He pleaded guilty to that charge and to his involvement in the bar fight, and was given 14 days in prison and two years’ probation.
He was acquitted of committing violence against police, the most serious charge and for which the maximum penalty is three years in prison.
Medvedev fought for the Wagner group in Ukraine, including in the region around Bakhmut, the center of months of fierce battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
He is in contact with Norway’s criminal police service, Kripos, which is in charge of investigating war crimes. Kripos told Reuters that they “wish to continue to question him” as a witness.
