LONDON: The Oslo Radio announced that Vidkun Quisling has been sentenced to death. Quisling was found guilty on all charges, and the verdict was unanimous. Abraham Vidkun Quisling, the 59-year-old sallow square-chinned puppet Prem­i­­er of Norway, with cropped blond hair, was today [Sept 10] sentenced to death on charges of treason at the close of his three weeks’ trial at Oslo, reports Reuter’s Special Correspondent.

The Court was packed to bursting point and the atmosphere was tense when the Judges and the jury filed in. … After the Court and the spectators had risen, Erik Solem, who headed the panel of seven Judges, read out the verdict, which covered 35 pages of typewritten manuscript, in solemn ringing tones. Quisling was found guilty on all charges, which include treasonable attempts to help the enemy, an attempt to bring the country under foreign domination, and an attempt to bring about changes in the constitution of the State by unlawful means. Quisling’s entire fortune of 1,040,000 Kroner (about Rs.8,00,00,000 at pre-war rates) was ordered to be confiscated. The death sentence was received with subdued murmuring and coughing in the Court, but this soon died down when the Judge called for order.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2020