The long-serving Labour Party (Ap) politician Aslam Ahsan has filed a police report against Progress Party (Frp) adviser Hårek Hansen. The 84-year-old believes that the statements fall under Section 185 of the Penal Code – the so-called racism paragraph.
This was written by Ahsan on Facebook on Sunday. Dagbladet first reported the case.
The report comes after Hansen referred to Pakistanis as “measurably minus variants” and said that they preferably should not have more children in Norway. The statements were made at the Eilefs bar in Oslo on the evening before the Frp national convention and were secretly recorded by two TV 2 journalists sitting at the same table. TV 2 published the recording on Saturday.
– Gross dehumanisation
Ahsan, who has a Pakistani background, demands that the police investigate the case and consider criminal prosecution.
“The use of the term ‘minus variants’ about an entire ethnic group is a gross dehumanisation and a public insult,” he writes in the report.
He points out that more than 40,000 persons with Pakistani background live in Norway, and rejects that there is any empirical basis for the characterisation:
“The group is well integrated with high participation in education, politics and business. There exists no statistical basis for characterising this group as ‘minus variants’, which reinforces the impression that the statement is motivated by prejudice and a desire to promote contempt.”
According to the new figures from Statistics Norway (SSB), which were published in Nettavisen in March 2026, Pakistanis in Norway are one of the nine groups that are in deficit – even in the conservative accounting which includes only tax and public payments (and not the consumption of public services). According to SSB’s figures, only 53 per cent of Pakistani households in Norway have two economically active persons. Compared with 82 per cent in the rest of the population.
Here is what Ahsan writes in the report:
Offence:
Violation of Section 185 of the Penal Code (Hateful speech).Description of the offence:
The undersigned hereby reports Hårek Hansen for violation of Section 185 of the Penal Code, often referred to as the “racism paragraph”. The background for the report is statements made by the reported party at the Eilefs restaurant in Oslo on 2 May 2026. According to documentation (attached) and witness observations, the reported party is said to have stated that persons with Pakistani background in Norway are “measurably minus variants” in the Norwegian population.
Section 185 of the Penal Code prohibits intentionally or through gross negligence publicly making a discriminatory or hateful statement. A discriminatory or hateful statement includes insulting someone, or promoting hatred, persecution or contempt towards someone on the basis of their skin colour, national or ethnic origin. The use of the term “minus variants” about an entire ethnic group is, in the complainant’s view, a gross dehumanisation and a public insult which falls directly within the scope of the law. Such statements contribute to stigmatisation and may contribute to bullying and exclusion for children and adults with this background.
Reference is made to the attached transcript/documentation of 2 May 2026 where the statements are reproduced in full. The following witnesses were present at the scene and may be contacted for testimony: See attachment.
More than 40,000 persons with background from Pakistan live in Norway. The group is well integrated with high participation in education, politics and business. There exists no statistical basis for characterising this group as “minus variants”, which reinforces the impression that the statement is motivated by prejudice and a desire to promote contempt.The undersigned requests that the police investigate the case, and that the reported party be charged and punished in accordance with Section 185 of the Penal Code.
I request to be kept informed about the progress of the case and about the police’s decision in the matter.
Apologised for “drunken rambling”
Hansen is political adviser to Frp’s education policy spokesperson Simen Velle and is married to a close friend of party leader Sylvi Listhaug. In an e-mail to TV 2, he apologised for the statements and referred to them as “vulgar and stupid drunken rambling”, characterised by a high level of intoxication.
Frp has opened a personnel case against Hansen, and Secretary-General Helge Fossum has announced “zero tolerance”. It is not yet known what consequences the case will have for the adviser.
Listhaug on Sunday distanced herself from the statements from the podium at the national convention and followed up on Facebook: “There is no room for such statements in the Progress Party.”