The arrest of PST outside the children’s school – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

The woman had just delivered the children to a school in Oslo when plainclothes officers from the Police Security Service (PST) approached her and informed her that she had been arrested.

NRK meets one of the three Palestine demonstrators who were arrested on Tuesday.

The three are charged with reckless behavior and for endangering the work of a parliamentary representative after following Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug in March. All deny criminal guilt.

The protester NRK has met wishes to remain anonymous for the sake of the family. She says she joined a group of protesters who followed Listhaug when the entourage passed her. She had then taken part in another demonstration outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She then helped follow the FRP leader all the way to the staff entrance to the Storting at Wessels plass.

The woman experienced the arrest on Tuesday morning as very dramatic and unpleasant.

– We react to the implementation and the time at which it was done, says lawyer Astri Rønningen Stautland at Elden Advokatfirma.

Arrested in front of children

Stautland is a defender of the protester NRK has met. She speaks on behalf of the client.

– Right after she has delivered the children, when the bell rings at 8:30, she is arrested by PST on the school premises, in the presence of both children, parents and teachers, says Stautland.

NRK has spoken to a witness to the incident, who says the arrest appeared violent. The protester’s own children did not witness the arrest.

The protester says that she was alerted by a mother with children in the same class as her, who came by when she was arrested. She was given keys to the house, in case she didn’t make it home to collect the children herself.

She was then grabbed by the arms by two PST officers, taken into a car, and taken for questioning to the central detention center in the police house in Greenland, according to the protester.

– In our view, there is no history in the case that indicates that such a procedure is necessary. In our view, it was a disproportionate use of force, says defender Stautland.

Will not comment on details

Senior advisor Martin Bernsen in PST says they do not want to comment on specific parts of the investigation.

– We are in the middle of an investigation that is still ongoing, and do not have the opportunity to go into details such as the time of arrest, says Bernsen to NRK.

Here the protesters follow the FRP leader in central Oslo:

He says they still understand that it can feel uncomfortable to be arrested.

– We can understand that an arrest can be experienced dramatically by those who are exposed to it. From the police’s side, we tried to make it as undramatic as possible, says Bernsen.

Police attorney Thomas Blom in PST said on Tuesday that the three charged appear to be the most active and ongoing during the ramp-up in March. PST decided to arrest them for reasons of the danger of tampering with evidencesays Blom.

PST: – Thoughtful arrests

Defender Stautland says they do not understand why the demonstrators were only arrested 41 days after the incident with Listhaug. Stautland also reacts to the fact that her client was arrested outside the children’s school.

– The other two who have been arrested in the same case were arrested at their own homes in a completely undramatic manner.

– Do you understand that PST needs to strike in a way that makes it impossible for the client to evade or get rid of evidence?

– It is clear that it will be necessary in many cases. In this case it was not. There is nothing in her history to indicate that she will evade or divulge evidence, says Stautland.

Bernsen in PST will not comment on why one protester was arrested at a school.

– Individual assessments were made prior to the arrests. There were well-thought-out arrests on PST’s part, says Bernsen.

According to NRK’s ​​information, it must have been important for PST to take the activist’s children into account when they arrested her.

Listhaug: Perceived as frightening

Listhaug says the incident with the demonstrators in March is the most threatening thing she has experienced during her work as a politician.

– I have been involved in a lot as a politician. I have both lived with PST bodyguards for several years and received many threats. But being followed on the street in that way was experienced as frightening, she told NRK after the arrests on Tuesday.

The protesters deny that the aim was to threaten Listhaug.

– Victims in the case own their story in exactly the same way as my client owns his story. It is the police who must assess whether something criminal has occurred. My client relates to his experience, says Stautland.