Hordaland District Court (tingrett) has remanded a man in custody for just over two weeks because of statements made online. The court wishes to keep him imprisoned pending the hearing of another case before the court. This is preventive detention intended to prevent him from expressing himself online.
This is an entirely new practice in Norwegian criminal justice and entails prior censorship, something which the law otherwise expressly prohibits.
The man appeared at a remand hearing in the District Court on Saturday, report Bergens Tidende and Bergensavisen.
There he was remanded in custody for slightly more than two weeks, until the commencement of a trial against him in another case for which he has been indicted.
“I no longer care. Take cover, Terror is on the loose,” reads one of the messages, among others.
In its remand order, the District Court concluded that there is a risk of reoffending.
– If he is released, there is a substantial risk that he will perceive this as a victory and will continue in the same manner, the order states.
Preventive detention in order to prevent expressions on social media is a new concept in the Norwegian context. Yet it is presented as normal.
The man’s defence counsel stated beforehand that the man does not admit criminal guilt and requests to be released.
– He has not given a statement and has therefore not admitted that it was he who wrote them, lawyer Jørgen Riple tells BT.
Riple says the man has expressed that he is not a dangerous person, but that he brings with him a manner of expression from the gaming world.
– If you are killed in Fortnite, one tends to say things there that nobody takes seriously, Riple tells BT, referring to the well-known shooting game.
– He says that he behaves differently on social media than in real life.
The police, however, believe it is probable that it was the man who wrote the messages. It was also pointed out that the man has been involved in eight similar cases within a short period this spring.
The court also concludes that the intensity of the threats has increased and that several of the threats are death threats.
The man is linked to an anti-immigration group and is said previously to have made insinuations of violence or reprisals against journalists at Bergensavisen, the Mayor of Bergen and a District Court judge in Oslo.
Police University College (Politihøgskolen) researcher Tore Bjørgo recently presented a study on harassment and threats against politicians.
By far the most common form of harassment and abuse takes place through social media. Around seven out of ten Members of Parliament and government ministers report having received troublesome or unwanted communications via platforms such as Facebook, X/Twitter and similar services. This represents a significant increase from 2013, when fewer than four out of ten experienced this.
Clearer consequences for female politicians
For the first time, the report also shows a difference in how this affects the sexes.
– We see that it has clearer consequences for female politicians. They are more inclined to hold back or even leave politics as a consequence of what they are subjected to, Bjørgo explains. (NTB)
Bjørgo is among those who have advocated using the police against people who express themselves inappropriately on social media. He has proposed sending the police to their door. The District Court now chooses to use two weeks of detention to prevent a person from expressing himself. This is a principled departure from established practice and may be interpreted as a form of gradual encroachment.
The individual has been given two weeks not as a sentence for what he has said, but for what he may come to say. A new legal principle.
“Insinuations of violence or reprisals” against journalists, politicians and a judge sounds vague and may be perceived as the courts adopting repressive methods to silence people. That would amount to introducing a new principle into criminal justice and could antagonise and intimidate people.