(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AFP
Oslo: A Norway court on Friday sentenced a former international biathlon boss to prison for three years and one month for accepting bribes.
Norwegian Anders Besseberg, the 78-year-old head of the International Biathlon Union from 1993 to 2018, was found guilty of nine of 10 counts of aggravated corruption during the period 2009-2018, charges he denied.
"I am of course disappointed and surprised about the verdict and some of the judges' reasoning. I am appealing on the spot," Besseberg told the court after the judge read out the 67-page verdict over the course of almost three hours.
"The defendant breached the trust that came with his position at the IBU by accepting the benefits," judge Vidar Toftoy-Lohne at the Buskerud district court said. The prosecution hailed the verdict.
"There is a lot of money in circulation in international elite sport. The federations manage substantial financial assets and make decisions that are important for both athletes and the business community," prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said in a statement.
"We hope this verdict can contribute to raising awareness and that it will have a preventive effect," she said.
Prosecutors had sought a jail term of three years and seven months and a fine of one million kroner ($95,000).
The court did not hand down a fine, but ordered Besseberg to return gifts amounting to 1.4 million kroner.
Besseberg has admitted accepting gifts but dismissed the notion that corruption was involved.
"Even if I received expensive gifts and was invited by many to go hunting, I must stress that I never let myself be corrupted," he told the court during his trial, media reported.
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