The police violence case at Kongsberg: – New round in court:

– It has been a topic in my head the whole time. I look forward to finishing the case, but it will be very unpleasant to go through everything again. I dread that, says Kevin Simensen to Dagbladet.

Together with his friend Kristian Pablo Teigen, he ended up in a fight with the police on the way home from the city on the night of 30 October 2022.

The violent incident was captured by a surveillance camera at a petrol station in the center of Kongsberg. The video, which was first published by Dagbladet, shows that a policeman repeatedly beats the two men – both with a tied hand and a telescopic baton.

The policeman was charged last summer with serious violence and grossly negligent breach of duty. He was – without any doubt – acquitted on all counts in the Buskerud district court. The majority of the court believed that the use of force appeared justifiable, compared to “the massive resistance” described by the police officer and his colleague, says the judgment, which was appealed by the Attorney General.

On Tuesday 2 April, the appeal case against the police officer will begin in the Borgarting Court of Appeal.

Here you can read all of Dagbladet’s articles on the case.

Attacking the Attorney General’s appeal

Still bothering

A year and a half after the dramatic night in the center of Kongsberg, the incident still affects Simensen’s everyday life to a large extent, he says.

– I hoped that it would get better with time, but I actually feel that it has gotten worse. I still have nightmares about what happened. My memory has become completely useless after the blows to the head and I struggle with anxiety and panic attacks, he says and continues:

– I have become anxious. The fact that it happened from a uniformed person made it extra difficult. Everything associated with the police becomes a trigger – and just the sight of blue light creates a reaction.

Simensen says that the violent incident has also left physical injuries, including to knees, shoulders and wrists.

For Teigen, who also has the status of offended in the case, things are getting better. But he also says that he gets a lump in his stomach when he sees the police.

– I have never had a bad relationship with the police, but I have become afraid that something similar could happen again, he says to Dagbladet.

The police violence case at Kongsberg is being appealed

It has been nine months since the two comrades received the phone call that the policeman had been acquitted on all counts. Now they are preparing for a new round in court.

– My first thought was that it must be nonsense – I was absolutely sure that he was going to be convicted. I really hope he is convicted in the Court of Appeal. If not, it sends a signal that it’s okay for police officers to carry on like that. It scares me, says Teigen.

Simensen also believes that there will be a different outcome when the case goes before the Borgarting Court of Appeal.

– The acquittal was – in a way – expected. Kongsberg is a small place and the police officers covered for each other both by deleting evidence and writing joint reports. I had hoped that there would be a difference between the camaraderie and the court’s assessment, but as I see it, the acquittal testifies to a system that does not work as it should. I hope that will be taken care of properly when the case goes higher up in the system.

Simensen, Teigen and their friend Marius Stormo were charged with violence against the police following the incident. These were placed on the evidence stand early in March this year.

Heidi Reisvang and John Christian Elden of the Elden law firm are defending the policeman. He does not wish to comment in connection with the case, but the defenders have the following comment:

“The case was thoroughly dealt with in the district court last time. We cannot see that significant new evidence has emerged from the prosecution after the acquittals. We therefore look at the case in the same way now as in the district court.”

Lost the right to legal aid

When the case went before the Buskerud district court in Kongsberg last summer, Simensen and Teigen were each represented by a legal assistant from the law firm Rogstad.

The Borgarting Court of Appeal has, however, concluded that the aggrieved parties do not have the right to legal aid during the appeal. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, but was rejected, according to TV 2, which first mentioned the ruling.

– The Court of Appeal believes that there are no special circumstances in the case and that the conditions for the appointment of legal counsel have not been met. Of course, we disagree with that assessment, and after going through several rounds with both the court and the defense, we have come to the conclusion that we can be present as privately employed assistance lawyers, says lawyer Sidra Bhatti to Dagbladet.

Bhatti, who together with colleague Ida Kristine Kolstad is assisting the victims in the case, emphasizes that it will have no significance for the clients that the case is taken as a “pro bono” assignment (unpaid, journ. note).

– We are very grateful – it means everything that they get to join the court. I dare not think about what it would have been like to sit there alone and be questioned by John Christian Elden (defendant’s defender, journ.anm.), say the aggrieved.

Was he prejudged?

Silent about criminal cases

Prior to the incident at the petrol station on 30 October 2022, Simensen is said to have been refused entry to the nightclub “Privat Bar”. The doorman has explained that he was disturbed repeatedly by Simensen, and at times also by his friends. According to his own explanation, his life was threatened several times – which Simensen, for his part, rejects.

As they left Privat, Simensen, according to the guard’s explanation, is said to have turned towards the guard, put his thumb up to his neck and gestured something the guard interpreted as another threat.

– God help me

After what is described as another altercation between the guard and Simensen at the petrol station, the police intervened. “The situation escalated drastically,” says one of the police reports. But the explanations about what happened in the lead-up are scattered.

After the case went before the district court last year, it has emerged that Simensen has been charged in several criminal cases. These are not connected to the police violence case. Among other things, Simensen is charged in a major fraud case and for having 3D-printed the first functional firearm seized in Norway.

In the wake of the new criminal cases, Elden and Heidi Reisvang, who jointly defend the accused police officer, tried this autumn to stop the appeal.

– When further information about the aggrieved persons of such a nature emerged, we thought it was right to ask the Attorney General to reconsider the appeal. We have noted that this has not changed their assessment. However, the defense believes that the new information is central as long as it substantiates that the defendant’s understanding of the situation was correct and that there was reason to react in the current situation. We will come back to this in court, says Reisvang to Dagbladet.

However, the aggrieved party and the lawyers do not wish to comment on the other criminal cases – neither to Dagbladet nor in the upcoming court round.

– Both we and the prosecution have been clear that it will not be an issue in court. The criminal records will be submitted, but beyond that, any questions from the defense will not be answered. The reason is that the other cases have nothing to do with this case, says Bhatti.