The man is accused of having put up posters in Oslo that had the police logo and the text “WANTED”.
The indictment states that he “violated the peace of another by intimidating or troublesome behavior or other reckless behavior.”
The man has admitted to putting up “wanted” posters of public prosecutor Geir Evanger and police officer Jan Erik Bresil.
Bresil and Evanger are both involved in the Norwegian Narcotics Police Association (NNPF) as chairman and deputy chairman of the board respectively.
Through QR codes on the posters, you could access websites about
The committee which for a year investigated the police’s ties to the drug policy association NNPF was named the Role Understanding Committee. They believed the police had not been clear enough about their roles.
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In the Hunger case, the police used illegal police provocation. Several of the defendants were acquitted of drug offences. Evanger was one of the state prosecutors who brought the case to court.
The Court of Appeal believed that one could not disregard the fact that 20 kilograms of MDMA would never have been introduced into Norway, if it were not for the police’s undercover agents’ involvement in the case. The police never intended to lose control of the drugs.
” data-term=”operation HUNGRY”>operation HUNGRY.
The case was investigated by the Oslo police district. Hedmark and Oppland state attorney’s offices
When the police have finished investigating a case, they send the entire investigation, as well as what they think should happen in the case, to their public prosecutor’s office. It is then the public prosecutor who assesses whether something criminal has occurred. If the public prosecutor believes that something criminal has happened, they bring charges.
” data-term=”however decided to press charges”>however decided to press chargeswhen the Oslo state prosecutor’s office considered that they were too close to Evanger to do one
If you are incompetent in a case, there are circumstances which mean that the decisions you make in the case can be perceived as, or be, biased. Government employees have strict rules on impartiality, so that the public must have confidence in the decisions made by the government. The Court has its own rules for impartiality in the Courts of Justice Act, in addition, rules are laid down in the Administration Act.
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But the public prosecutor who decided to press charges against the man is himself a member of the NNPF. This shows membership lists NRK has received from the Ministry of Justice.
– This will be the subject of consideration when the court starts tomorrow. The prosecution will not make further comments, writes prosecutor Sigrid Morseth in an SMS to NRK.
NRK has tried to get in touch with the first attorney Iris Øsp Lydsdottir Storås in the Hedmark and Oppland state prosecutor’s offices, but has not yet succeeded. She is the current public prosecutor’s boss.
Does not perceive himself as incompetent
In a letter NRK has been given access to by defense attorney Jon Wessel Aas, the state attorney confirms that she has been a member of the association since 2014.
However, she does not perceive herself as incompetent, as she has never held a prominent position in the association, and does not have a personal or professional relationship with the parties in the case.
The accused man’s defender, Jon Wessel Aas, thinks that is highly objectionable.
Especially in light of the Role Understanding Committee’s recent report, where they came to the conclusion that the police and the justice sector had not distinguished their roles well enough.
– To put it mildly, it is a serious work accident, says the defender.
– The public prosecutor was only involved in the indictment, not in the investigation. Does that matter?
– Yes. It is absolutely crucial that the person bringing the charges is competent. It is just as crucial that the judge who will rule in the case is competent. In my view, there is no doubt that then you are incompetent, says defender Jon Wessel Aas to NRK.
NRK
explains
This is the NNPF case
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What is NNPF?
The Norwegian Narcotics Police Association (NNPF) describes itself as drug-political. The organization mainly consists of employees of the police, but also employees of the Customs Service, the Armed Forces, the Norwegian Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Correctional Service and others can be members of the organization.
Is the NNPF part of the police?
Both the Norwegian Police Directorate and the NNPF say that they have no formal connection to each other. At the same time, NRK has mentioned that between 2001 and 2018 the Norwegian Police Directorate has given financial support to the association outside of the grant schemes the directorate has managed. The police have also deducted the membership fee for NNPF members directly from the police salary. It’s a scheme experts say is usually reserved for unions. NNPF is not a trade union.
Several media outlets have also mentioned the organisation’s cooperation with municipalities, the nightlife industry and the police in several places in the country. Certain industry professionals who were part of the later debated nightlife agreements have said that they did not always understand the difference between the police and the NNPF.
In the period 1994-2013, the Ministry of Justice gave the association NOK 1.2 million for the same conference as the Norwegian Police Directorate. The money was taken from the budget that the police should have used for operations.
What do the police say about this?
The police decided that they will investigate the ties between themselves and the NNPF. At first the Norwegian Police Directorate said that the investigation would be internal, but after pressure from the critics, the investigation became external.
After even more pressure, the Norwegian Police Directorate decided to ask the Department of Justice to appoint the members of the committee and determine their mandate. The committee, which is chaired by Anne-Mette Magnussen at the Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, submitted its report on 11 January.
Has there been role mixing?
The committee believes that the police and NNPF have not been clear enough about their roles, and that the police have not followed their own regulations for finances and integrity. The committee believes this is problematic.
The committee’s main impression is that the police have not deliberately broken the regulations, but that awareness of the rules that apply and when the rules are applied has been too weak.
Here are some of the report’s key findings:
- The police and the Ministry of Justice’s payments to the NNPF have not been in line with the financial regulations
- The police have had too little focus on role mixing, and have not checked that the rules on bee acquisition have been complied with
- Membership of the NNPF has sometimes been a prerequisite for receiving benefits as a police employee – salary and promotion in the agency have been linked to the NNPF’s competence-enhancing measures
- There is a particular need for further research into the reasons for and effects of preventive measures
– Remarkable
Wessel Aas himself found out about the public prosecutor’s possible disqualification through social media on Friday, and contacted the prosecutor in the case immediately.
Jon Wessel Aas is the defender of the accused man in his 40s.
Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
If the prosecution itself does not decide that the indictment must be re-examined, he will present this to the court on Monday, he says.
– It is mildly ironic. I don’t understand how you can put yourself in that situation. Some are already questioning the fact that charges were brought in this case. But when you also manage to end up with the person bringing charges being a member of the association, I think that’s remarkable, says Wessel Aas.
He has previously told NRK that the man does not plead guilty, as he believes the posters were satirical.
State attorney and NNPF deputy chairman Geir Evanger has said that he finds the posters “particularly unpleasant”, and has announced a claim for compensation of NOK 50,000.
– Then I understand that it is a kind of irony. But there is a limit to how far you can go, and what you have to put up with for things you have been involved in as a public prosecutor, Evanger told NRK before Christmas.
