Norway violated Imran Saber’s rights in connection with the seizure of a telephone that contained communication with his lawyers, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decided.
The phone was seized when police investigated a case related to Saber.
At the time, he stated that the phone contained confidential messages between him and two lawyers who defended him in a case where he was charged.
Saber – who has been convicted a number of times and has been nicknamed “David Toska’s Minister of Finance” – was later acquitted in the case.
Fair trial
The Oslo District Court decided that external experts should have filtered out these messages before the police gained access to the telephone.
Saber believed his right to a fair trial and respect for correspondence were violated.
Therefore, he took the case to the European Court of Human Rights (EMD) in Strasbourg.
The state is sentenced to pay EUR 7,000 in compensation. This corresponds to NOK 74,000 kroner at today’s exchange rate.
