Marius Borg Høiby will remain in pre-trial detention after the Borgarting Court of Appeal rejected his appeal against a lower court decision refusing to let him serve custody outside prison with an electronic ankle monitor. The ruling means Høiby is likely to stay in custody until the verdict in his criminal case is delivered by Oslo District Court on 15 June.
Why the appeal court rejected the ankle monitor request
According to NRK, the appeal court said there is a high risk that Høiby could commit new offences if he were allowed to leave prison and serve the remainder of his detention under electronic monitoring. The judges pointed in particular to the fact that he has repeatedly breached a restraining order.
That reasoning closely follows the earlier decision by Oslo District Court, but the appeal ruling gives fresh legal weight to the prosecution’s argument that ordinary monitoring conditions would not be enough in this case.
Repeated restraining-order breaches shaped the ruling
The court highlighted that several of the offences in the indictment were allegedly committed over a long period and that Høiby had repeatedly violated the restraining order concerning the woman often referred to in Norwegian reporting as the Frogner woman.
NRK reported that the appeal court also put weight on the fact that the correctional services would not be able to fully control Høiby’s communication with others through phone calls, internet access and visits if he were transferred to an ankle-monitor arrangement.
That issue appears to have been decisive. In practice, the judges concluded that electronic monitoring would not sufficiently reduce the risk of renewed violations.
Defence says Høiby is disappointed by the decision
Høiby’s lawyer, René Ibsen, said he was disappointed on behalf of his client. In comments to NRK, he criticised the appeal court’s reasoning as too limited and said the defence had hoped for a broader assessment of the arguments presented.
Ibsen also said it had not yet been decided what the next legal step would be. He maintained that the risk of new offences would have been very low if Høiby had been allowed to remain under a strict ankle-monitor arrangement.
What the ruling means before the June 15 verdict
The decision means Høiby will remain in custody, most likely until the court delivers its verdict on 15 June. That verdict will address all 40 charges in the case, including four rape allegations, abuse in an intimate relationship, violence and other offences.
Høiby denies guilt on the most serious charges, though he has admitted some lesser offences. Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of seven years and seven months in prison, while the defence has argued for a much shorter sentence if he is convicted only on the counts he has admitted.
A procedural ruling with wider public significance
The appeal court’s decision does not resolve the criminal case itself, but it adds another important development to one of Norway’s most scrutinised trials in recent years. It also reinforces the court’s view that the risk assessment around Høiby remains serious even at this late stage before judgment.
For now, the immediate consequence is clear: there will be no ankle monitor, no transfer out of prison, and no change in custody conditions before the June ruling unless the defence pursues a further, successful legal step.
