Thomas Møller Olsen, the 30-year-old Greenlander who has been in custody since mid-January over the death of Birna Brjánsdóttir, has pleaded not guilty at the first court hearing today.
His not-guilty plea extends to both the murder of Birna and also to the separate charge of trying to smuggle 23.4 kg of cannabis from Denmark to Greenland.
Prosecutor Kolbrún Benediktsdóttir put forth a ream of evidence to the court, including psych reports, but none of the details from the documents have been made public.
Olsen’s defense lawyer requested time to go through all the evidence presented and decide whether or not to submit additional documentation. The court has allowed him two weeks to do so, RÚV reports.
Olsen hid his face under a blanket as he was led into the courtroom by police, and removed it only when the judge entered the room.
An interpreter translated proceedings for the defendant in Danish.
The prosecutor’s charges were put forth 11 days ago, they were presented to Olsen a week later, and they were released to the media yesterday.
The prosecutor says she does not know why Olsen decided to plead not guilty to drug smuggling, when he has reportedly admitted to the crime under police interrogation. She speculates that it may be something in the wording of the charge that he does not accept.
