[Commons-Law] Peter Sunde's lawyer calls for a retrial

[Pranesh Prakash]

>From <http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=19028&print=true>.
<snip>
"Norström [the judge] argues that he was not however swayed in his
judgement by involvement with copyright protection groups.

"My view has been that these activities do not constitute a conflict
of interest," Norström told Sveriges Radio. \
</snip>

What about that old adage about justice not only being done, but being
seen to be done as well?

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Pirate Bay lawyer calls for retrial

Published: 23 Apr 09 08:53 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19028/20090423/

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A lawyer representing one of the men convicted in the Pirate Bay trial
has called for a retrial after reports that the judge was a member of
the same copyright protection organisations as several of the main
entertainment industry representatives.

The judge in the Pirate Bay case, Tomas Norström, has been a member of
several of the same copyright protection organisations as several of
the main entertainment industry representatives, Sveriges Radio's P3
news programme reports.

Peter Althin, the lawyer who represents Pirate Bay spokesperson Peter
Sunde, has announced that he plans to demand a retrial.

"I will point that out in my appeal, then the Court of Appeal
(Hovrätten) will decide if the district court decision should be set
aside and the case revisited," Althin said on Thursday.

Althin is very critical of the judge's actions in the case and argues
that the defence should have had an opportunity to review the
circumstances.

"In the autumn I received information that a lay judge could have
similar connections. I sent these to the court and the judge was
excluded in order to prevent a conflict of interest. It would have
been reasonable to then review this situation as well," Althin said.

Ola Samuelsson, the lawyer representing Gottfried Svartholm Warg,
concurred with Althin in his assessment of the situation.

"All types of interest conflicts are a problem for the judiciary. It
should be a matter of course as a judge to ensure that you keep your
house in order. This is a high profile case and that is an additional
reason to keep a check," Samuelsson said.

Samuelsson said on Thursday that he has not yet decided whether to
join Per Althin and demand a retrial.

High profile attorney Leif Silbersky is one of a number of experts who
concurred with Althin and Samuelsson in believing that judge
Norström's various memberships represent a conflict of interest.

"A retrial is a possibility, but in that case the lawyers will have to
take this up immediately," Silbersky told Sveriges Radio.

Pirate Party chairman Rickard Falkvinge has called for the verdict to
be scrapped.

"The copyright lobby has really managed to bring corruption to
Sweden," he said in a statement.

One of the groups of which Norström is a signed up member is Svenska
föreningen för upphovsrätt ('the Swedish Copyright Association'),
where he is joined by Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky and Monique
Wadsted, all of whom represented the entertainment industry in the
case against file sharing site The Pirate Bay.

The judge also sits on the board of Svenska föreningen för
industriellt rättsskydd (Swedish Association for the Protection of
Industrial Property), a group actively advocating for more stringent
copyright laws.

Norström argues that he was not however swayed in his judgement by
involvement with copyright protection groups.

"My view has been that these activities do not constitute a conflict
of interest," Norström told Sveriges Radio.