Tuesday brought the first mention of the matter in the serious press. The local newspaper Firda reported that the couple now risk six years in prison for violating the criminal law section covering «domestic abuse» for «threats, coercion, deprivation of liberty, violence or other violations». Even clearer: The parents are being charged for violence against their own children.
– In the Child welfare act, there is no legal basis whatsoever for taking children from their parents based on religious or other beliefs, says Hanne Sæbø at County governor's office of Sogn og Fjordane, in Firda.
It must be emphasized that there still is no indictment against the parents of the five children, and that the matter certainly could end with the family being reunited without anyone being prosecuted. The best possible outcome would be for all the claims being disproved.