Here in Yemen, murder suspect Farouk Abdulhak is hiding – 14 years after he was wanted for the murder of Martine Vik Magnussen – VG

He is isolated. His closest friend is a bodyguard. This is what murder suspect Faruok Abdulhak’s new life is like in Yemen, according to a documentary.

He was nobody, Farouk Abdulhak, until he was wanted internationally, and suspected of the murder and rape of the 23-year-old Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen in London in March 2008.

Immediately after Martine Magnussen Vik from Nesøya outside Oslo was killed in London, Farouk Abdulhak fled the country. Today he lives in hiding in civil war-ravaged Yemen.

Comes from power

– To understand how Farouk could hide in Yemen, one must first understand who his father is. And how much power he has. The Abdulhak family is one of Yemen’s most powerful and secretive. Few people know anything about the family.

That’s what the Egyptian investigative journalist Hisham Allam says in a new Norwegian documentary series. In one of the world’s poorest countries, those who are rich are really rich, Abdulhak’s family is among them.

In the series “Martine”, produced by Monster for Discovery, we follow Martine Vik Magnussen’s parents, Odd Petter Magnussen and Kristin Vik, in their fight to have murder suspect Faruok Abdulhak extradited from Yemen and put on trial in Great Britain. The documentary premieres today on TV Norge and Discovery+. The documentary also shows a new photo of Abdulhak, which is said to have been taken after the murder.

But a lot has happened since Abdulhak escaped from Britain to Yemen in 2008. Both politically and in the family structure.

Yemen has been ravaged by civil war. And the head of the family – billionaire Shaher Abdulhak – is dead.

Isolated and friendless

Now the son is in the capital Sana’a in Yemen.

– Yemen has been at war for the past seven years. Every now and then there are missile attacks. It is not a safe country. Farouk is more or less confined. He has to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life, describes Hany Bassaid, a close friend of Abdulhak’s father in the documentary.

– Farouk’s whole life is being at home. He cannot socialize or go to public places anymore, says an anonymous family member of Farouk in the documentary.

He states that he talks to Farouk Abdulhak almost daily.

– He has one bodyguard. Sometimes two. It’s his friends. Everything is delivered or picked up at the door, says the relative. But he has a small patio in the garden. There he can get some sunlight and fresh air. Other than that, he has a computer and films, says the relative.

Live online

He says that Abdulhak spends his life on the internet and describes it as his life ending that night, 14 March 2008 – the day Martine Vik Magnussen was killed, and Abdulhak fled the UK.

It is forbidden in Yemen’s constitution to extradite citizens to other countries. Therefore, Martine’s family hopes that someone will be able to persuade Farouk to voluntarily allow himself to be brought before the court in Great Britain.

Through his lawyers, Abdulhak informs the documentary team that he considers the case closed, and that, in his view, proposals for solutions have previously been presented. Among them trial in Yemen.

Father: Applying pressure

Martine’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, tells VG that attention to the case is important for the work that he and the others in the organization Justice for Martine Vik Magnussen do, and that they have worked for a long time to create ethical pressure around the murder suspect and his surroundings.

– Considering the way he lives now, this may seem to have been successful. But we still lack action on this pressure, where we hope that he himself, or with his family, addresses the British authorities and negotiates conditions for a return to the UK, says Magnussen.

What happens after that is up to the British legal system, he points out.

– Our work is finished the second he sets foot on British soil. But that a fair trial is carried out is all the family wants, says Magnussen to VG.

Only way out

Martine’s father believes that a legal process will ultimately be for the best, also for the murder suspect and his family.

– It is both morally and ethically correct for him to contribute to a solution to this matter. Then, after having some form of presence in a legal sanctions regime, he will actually become a free man, says Magnussen to VG.

The Martine case will not end unless that happens, says the father, who says that this is not just about justice for his daughter.

– It is also about the fact that we cannot have it like this in a modern world: That one can commit such a cruel crime, the rape and murder of a woman, and then just travel across national borders and not have to face the consequences due to lack of extradition agreements.

VG has tried to get in touch with Mohammad Mahdi Baqwali, who has previously defended Abdulhak. Baqwali has not yet responded to VG’s inquiries.

VG journalist Marianne Vikås Tofthagen, who has previously written a book about the Martine case, has worked on the series as a consultant.