Ghost: Ex-Nameless Ghouls Request New Trial in Lawsuit Against Tobias Forge
Remember a month ago when, after a year and a half of legal wrangling, a Swedish court dismissed the lawsuit brought against Ghost leader Tobias Forge by four of his former band members? Not only was the case thrown out before it got to trial, but the plaintiffs were ordered to cover 1.3 million kronor (roughly $145,000 USD) of Forge’s legal fees.
Welp, not so fast: making good on their promise to appeal the decision, the four ex-Nameless Ghouls — Simon Söderberg (Alpha), Mauro Rubino (Air), Henrik Palm (Ether) and Martin Hjertstedt (Earth) — have taken things one step further by requesting a completely new trial. The reason? The plaintiffs allege that the judge who presided over the case, Henrik Ibold, was biased because he and Forge are both members of the same branch of the Swedish Order Of Freemasons.
As if the Ghost “storyline” could get any more ridiculous. Because of course it can! Although surely this wasn’t in Forge’s script.
NT.se reports (pardon the rough Google translation):
“The infected dispute has now taken an unexpected turn. Attorney Michael Berg, who represents the former members, has requested that the entire trial in the district court be rescheduled in an appeal to the court of appeal. The lawyer accuses the commander Henrik Ibold, who was the court chairman of the district court, for being disloyal. The reason is that Henrik Ibold is a member of the Swedish Freemasonry Order. The band leader Tobias Forge is also a member of the same order, and according to the lawyer, he and the councilor Ibold belong to the section entitled “Fourth Distribution”, which includes the logs of Linköping. The lawyer believes that this circumstance may call into question the impartiality of the counselor in the case.
“We spoke on Thursday with Councilor Henrik Ibold. He did not know that the lawyer turned to the court of law. He says it is up to the court of appeal to determine whether he was foolish or not when he sentenced the case.”
Ibold told NT.se that he didn’t know Forge was a member of the Freemasons although he had heard rumors. He added that he wasn’t worried his decision would be deemed corrupt. Meanwhile Forge’s lawyer Ann-Charlotte Söderlund Björk declined to comment.
It remains to be seen whether the request for a new trial will be granted, but we will certainly keep everyone posted.
[via The PRP]
