A man has been prosecuted for hanging up posters around Oslo that read “WANTED”, with the police logo on them.
The indictment states that he “has violated the peace of another person by intimidating or troublesome behavior or other reckless behavior.”
The man has admitted to having put up the posters of public prosecutor Geir Evanger and police officer Jan Erik Bresil, who is the head and deputy head of the Norwegian Narcotics Police Association (NNPF).
QR codes were placed on the posters, where one was sent to websites about the Role Understanding Committee, which investigated the police’s ties to the NNPF, and Operation HUNGER, where the police used illegal police provocation.
The trial against the accused man starts on Monday. But the state attorney who brought charges in the case was himself listed as a member of the NNPF in 2020, membership lists Dagbladet has gained access to show.
In a letter Dagbladet has been given access to by the man’s defender, Jon Wessel Aas, the state attorney confirms that she has been a member of the association since 2014 and still is today.
It was NRK who mentioned the matter first.
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, writes NRK.
The accused man’s defender, Jon Wessel Aas, thinks the situation is highly objectionable.
– It is a bit surprising that she does not consider herself incompetent, says Wessel Aas to Dagbladet.
The trial – and the revelation about the state attorney’s connection to the organization – is coming shortly after the committee on NNPF’s understanding of its role came with strong criticism of the organisation.
– The committee’s main conclusion is that there has not been a sufficient distinction between the role of police and the role of member of the Norwegian Narcotics Police Association (NNPF). It is not a lack of rules and norms that have contributed to it, but a lack of compliance, said the head of the Role Understanding Committee, Professor Anne-Mette Magnussen, during the presentation of the report earlier in January.
Criticized for mixing roles and financial mess
Wessel Aas says that he was tipped off about the connection through social media on Friday, and then contacted the prosecutor straight away.
He will submit that the indictment must be heard again on Monday, if the prosecution itself does not come to this conclusion.
The connection will be dealt with when the court starts tomorrow, prosecutor Sigrid Morseth confirms to NRK. The public prosecutor’s office will not comment further.
Dagbladet updates the case.
