On Friday, Oslo’s public prosecutor’s office dropped the case against comedian Atle Antonsen, which concerns hate speech made against Sumaya Jirde Ali on 23 October this year. In a Facebook post, Ali wrote, among other things, that Antonsen said she was “too dark-skinned to be here” during a city tour in Oslo. She accused him of grabbing her and writes that the incident has left her in shock. Antonsen has apologized for the episode. VG’s Shazia Majid thinks it is strange that the review was dismissed. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news What is “qualified infringement”? The police had insisted that Antonsen should be prosecuted, but state attorney Ingelin Hauge believed there was no basis for saying that Antonsen’s statement was “qualifiedly offensive in the context in which it was made.” – Like most others, I think that it is strange and react with wonder, says VG commentator Shazia Majid to news. Majid emphasizes that she has not read the entire assessment of the state attorney and that it is difficult to say anything about the legal aspects. – If the intention was not to be offensive, is that okay? I think this opens up an exciting debate about what is “qualifiedly offensive”, says Majid. – Everything cannot be regulated by law – Strictly speaking, this is not about what is punishable or not, but how we talk together in society, says secretary general of the Norwegian Editors’ Association Reidun Kjelling Nybø. She believes that one should not leave all the responsibility to the authorities to decide what is racism and what is allowed to be said and what is not. Reidun Kjelling Nybø of the Norwegian Editors’ Association believes that discussions about what is okay must come from below. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news – We have a tendency in Norway to want everything to be regulated by laws and regulations. Then we would not have had a liberal democracy with freedom of expression. These discussions must come from below from us, says Nybø. Majid also points out that on the one hand you have the legal definitions and on the other the attitudes and thoughts on which society is built: – How we treat each other and behave towards each other. What makes Norway Norway and what we need in this country. And at least it’s not this type of incident, says Majid. She praises Ali for showing courage and bearing the burden of telling her story. – For the last week, I have been thinking about what I would do in that situation. Many of us should think about what kind of responsibility we as a non-minority have and how we should face this. It’s also about speaking out in the comment fields and meeting word for word, says Nybø. Notice of appeal Although the case has now been dismissed, the decision by the State Attorney can be appealed to the Attorney General within three weeks. The public prosecutor’s reasoning When assessing whether it can be established with the necessary degree of certainty that a criminal offense has occurred, it must not only be established that Antonsen has actually made the statement “you are too dark to be here”. It must be proven that he has acted with the necessary degree of guilt, in that he has intentionally or grossly negligently insulted Ali. The statement must be assessed in the context of the immediate situation in which it was made, and the parties’ previous knowledge of each other’s positions. After reviewing all the statements of the victim, the accused and the witnesses in report form and audio recordings, there seems to be disagreement as to whether an argument took place prior to the statement or not. The same applies to the situation afterwards. Neither ***** nor ***** has realized that Antonsen is said to have asked others to take a position on the statement. My assessment is therefore that the statement is not qualified as offensive in the context in which it is made. There is therefore reasonable doubt as to whether the conditions for punishment under Section 185 of the Criminal Procedure Act have been met. The case will therefore be dismissed according to the state of the evidence. I also believe that the relationship must be decided according to the state of the evidence when assessing Section 266 of the Criminal Procedure Act. The claim of guilt is premeditated. Based on the above-mentioned assessment of the explanations in the case, it cannot be proven that he intended to be reckless, intimidating or troublesome towards Ali. Through Ali’s friend Hasti Hamidi, news has asked if she intends to complain about the suspension. Hamidi replies that they will not comment on the matter for the time being. Ben Mansour at the Anti-Racist Center said on Friday that they will file a complaint. Antonsen’s lawyer Marianne Klausen commented on the closure to NTB on Friday evening: – It still does not change the fact that he behaved terribly badly this evening. Atle understands that the case has been and still is a great burden for those involved, regardless of how the state attorney has assessed the case, said Klausen.
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– The Antonsen case is about much more than law – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
