Sunday, July 12, 2015

- Late reply to Kristin case because of NIPH DNA monopoly – Aftenposten

The blåblå government opened in 2013 that more players than NIPH shall do DNA analysis in criminal cases, but the change is still not implemented .

– We believe that this will give the police the opportunity to get quicker answers to their DNA analysis. It is also good for legal certainty that it will be several expert groups, said Health Minister Bent Høie (H) then.

Crime Author and former chief investigator Jørn Lier Horst in Vestfold Police believe NIPH (FHI) monopoly may hinder technological advances and new ideas.

The last thing he did before he left office in police were directing harsh criticism against FHI monopoly. He believes Kristin affair, which he himself helped to investigate, could have been resolved earlier.

– The methods in recent days has provided new answers in Kristin case, has been available in ten years, he says to Aftenposten.

12 year old Kristin Juel Johannessen was found strangled and killed in the woods outside Larvik in 1999. This week arrested the police a man who was previously acquitted of murder, because new DNA analyzes related him to the scene.

The academic community impatiently

Professor of forensic medicine, Lars Uhlin-Hansen, Head Straight Genetic Center at the University of Tromsø (UiT). He has fought long to drop to as an alternative to FHI in DNA analyzes.

– Because of the requirements for electronic communication with the police and the DNA register to NCIS, it is in practice only FHI that can analyze DNA in criminal cases. They are the only ones who are hooked up to the system to the police, he said.

– Last fall, it was done a concept study to see how UiT and any private actors can escape to. Police Directorate delivered the report earlier this year, but I’m unsure of what has happened since. We are waiting, he continues.

Ministry of Justice determines

Justice Ministry stated that the case still pending there and the Ministry of Health .

– This work is a priority. Today there is no prohibition against using others to DNA analysis, but the police will have to pay more to use other than FHI. We now look at different funding, said State Secretary Joran Kallemyr (FRP) in the Ministry of Justice to Aftenposten.

-Bent Høie promised nearly two years ago to abolish the monopoly. What is the reason why it is still not done?

– Here we are talking about protecting fundamental considerations as the protection of personal data and strategic information in investigations. We must have systems that allow for it, but it does not matter whether it is private or public that makes analyzes. It is the practical IT problems with secure communication that must be resolved. Politically we will get it in place as soon as possible, he said.



Important trace lost

The coalition government said in its time refuse to open for private because it believed it was a principle that such would happen in the public sector and should not be commercialized.

Lier Horst is clear that the Norwegian police probably have missed many vital clues in criminal cases because the latest technology has not been place earlier.

– The last few years have 10,000 police officers in Norway trained in this technology. Nevertheless, we have not got the potential benefit because the analyzer has not been updated sufficiently, says Lier Horst.

CEO Ragne Kristin Farmen by the private DNA laboratory Gena Stavanger agree that DNA track should have been discovered earlier.

– We have always said that when new technology comes with better performance, you can not spend as much time FHI has spent adapt, she says to Dagbladet.

Calls for healthy competition

Straight Genetic Center in Tromso calls for the larger academic debate. Everyone will be better off without a monopoly on DNA analysis, mean right geneticist and Academic Director Thomas Berg.

– The design has been has been that another agency should be able to make new assessments. An opening will also provide professional communities engaged each other on, environments that both cooperate and have a healthy, academic competition, Berg says to Aftenposten.

In 2005 recommended Prosecutions that the police had to go through all the evidence in Kristin case again, but efforts were fruitless.

– I think we’re going to get more answers now. The DNA evidence the police have presented, is stronger than a confession, says Lier Horst.

Published: 12.jul. 2015 1:42 p.m.

LikeTweet

No comments:

Post a Comment