OFFICER: The senior officer (slapped) during a commemoration of Liberation and Veterans Day on May 8 last year. Photo: Tore Kristiansen / VG
Filmed the officer lying naked on a couch next to drugs.
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An officer in his 50s was filmed naked next to drugs in an apartment in Oslo last year. The man in his 20s who filmed him is charged with extortion, after threatening to share the video if he did not receive NOK 38,000 and /or a Tesla The officer claims he was drugged and subjected to blackmail, while the accused man says they both took drugs voluntarily In an audio recording, the accused and the officer talk about drug use. The accused man sold the film of the officer to Dagbladet for NOK 65,000. Show more
The man who is charged did not receive money from the officer, but instead sold the film to Dagbladet.
The officer and the man in his 20s had never met before they were in an apartment in Oslo at the end of April last year.
According to the indictment, in the days following the meeting in the apartment, the officer was contacted on Snapchat and by phone, where he was threatened:
Video footage of him “sleeping naked on a couch with drugs and/or drug paraphernalia lying on a table” would be shared with the media, unless he paid “NOK 38,000 and/or bought a Tesla” to the defendant.
The officer (slandered) in conversation with Chief of Defense Erik Kristoffersen on Liberation and Veterans Day on 8 May last year. Photo: Tore Kristiansen / VG
The two men have different versions of what happened in the apartment:
The man in his 20s says that they both took drugs voluntarily. He has told VG that he considered pressuring the officer for money, but says he chose not to carry it out. The officer in his 50s says he was unknowingly drugged and afterwards subjected to an extortion attempt.
– I did not use illegal drugs. I was drugged down, the officer told VG.
Talking about drugs in audio recordings
VG has gained access to an audio recording that is supposed to be of the two men, where they talk about drug use.
Metadata shows that the audio file was recorded at the address where the officer met the man.
When asked if he likes “coke” or cocaine, what should be the officer answers in the affirmative. The quotes in italics should be from the officer:
– Yes, do you prefer coke? asks the man in his 20s.
– Somewhat dependent on the setting.
The supposed officer then asks if the man in his 20s likes “ice”, which is another name for methamphetamine.
– Ice yes, ice, yes, it works, the man replies.
– So, ice is, after all, you use it, so it is much more expensive, but you use much less.
– Yes it is true.
– Coke is somehow fast.
VG has sent the audio recording and several questions to the officer. He does not want to make a statement.
The recording is also part of the police investigation, according to what VG is informed.
The video itself starts with filming over a living room table. On the table next to it are small plastic bags with brown powder, folded aluminum foil and a lighter. The camera then pans to a sofa where the officer is lying naked and sleeping.
State Attorney Erik Førde is the prosecutor in the case. He says the investigation has clarified how the officer in his 50s and the man in his 20s ended up in the apartment.
– But I don’t want to go into details about it now, says Førde.
The defendant has so far refused to explain himself to the police.
– I have been in contact with the defense attorney and asked if he wants to explain himself in advance, so that he can possibly get a confession discount, says Førde.
Manne’s defender, lawyer Ole Lien, states that he is in dialogue with the state attorney about whether his client should be questioned and explain himself.
– Beyond that, I have no comment, says Lien to VG.
DEFENDER: Lawyer Ole Lien. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG
Made an agreement with Dagbladet
Førde says the police via another case have come across evidence which substantiates that the defendant went to the media to sell the film of the officer.
– Through the investigation of other criminal cases, the police have come into possession of communications indicating that this story was sold or attempted to be sold to the media, says Førde.
VG has gained access to a signed agreement between the defendant and Dagbladet. It states that the defendant was to receive NOK 65,000 for film and audio recording of the officer. NOK 25,000 was to be paid as an advance, while the rest was to be paid when Dagbladet published a case.
As of now, Dagbladet has not published any case.
The man in his 20s chose last year to be interviewed by VG without being paid.
WRITTEN AGREEMENT: The contract Dagbladet and the man in his 20s signed. Photo: Facsimile
Ongoing personnel matter
The Armed Forces will not comment on the content of the audio recording or the officer’s status to the Armed Forces today.
– We do not comment on an ongoing personnel matter, writes spokesperson and lieutenant colonel Vegard Norstad Finberg in an e-mail.
After VG contacted the Norwegian Defense Forces about the matter, the Norwegian Defense Security Department (FSA) opened an investigation.
The Armed Forces’ Security Department is responsible for security clearance for everyone in the Armed Forces, apart from employees of the Intelligence Service.
The man in his 20s has admitted that he accessed the officer’s phone, where he retrieved a list of passwords and defense documents.
According to the Norwegian Armed Forces, the officers’ accounts on the Norwegian Armed Forces’ IT systems were quickly blocked and there is “a very low probability that classified information has been compromised”.
Dagbladet: Cannot comment
Acting news editor Jan Thomas Haglund writes in an e-mail to VG:
– I cannot comment on either any unpublished material or any work processes in the case VG describes.
He says that, on a general basis, it is not unusual for Norwegian media to pay for image material.
– In all matters, decisions about what is published are made on the basis of editorial assessments. We cannot comment on such assessments of any unpublished material, writes Haglund.
Published:
Published: 22.10.23 at 21:39
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2023-10-22 19:39:54
#Man #indicted #attempting #blackmail #highranking #officer
