On the Monday after the terrorist attack in Oslo on 25 June, a commemoration was planned at Rådhusplassen. Oslo City Council wholeheartedly supported the commemoration. – I really want to encourage Oslo people to come here, said city councilor Raymond Johansen the day before the planned event. However, the marking was canceled at the last minute. The Directorate of Police stated on the same day that the event was to take place, that the police recommended the cancellation on the basis of information from PST. Terror warning On 12 January this year, news and VG were able to reveal that PST received a warning about a possible terrorist attack in Scandinavia before 25 June. An agent working on assignment for the E-service had intercepted a possible terrorist plan. The e-service notified PST of this before the terrorist attack, but PST did not further notify the Oslo police district. PST has received criticism for this. PST has replied that they had received little concrete information. Who got to know what and at what time? It has been at the heart of the dispute since this revelation. Now the former police chief and current PST chief, Beate Gangås, is shedding light on what information she relied on in the days after the terrorist attack. MARKING: Many have laid flowers at the closed street the day after the shooting happened. Photo: Håvve Fjell/Private Two days after the attack, she learned that PST had received a warning about a possible terrorist attack before the mass shooting in Oslo. – When did you find out about this notice as police chief in Oslo? – I received information from PST on Monday afternoon, says Gangås to news. – How did you react? – It created an understanding of why PST chose to act as they did. Gangås says that she received classified information from PST, which means that it was information they could not release. The Intelligence Service and the PST The Intelligence Service (E-tjenesten) has as its main task the notification of external threats against Norway. The e-service is subordinate to the Chief of Defence, but the work includes both civilian and military issues. The Police Security Service (PST) is tasked with preventing and investigating serious crime against the nation’s security. PST is Norway’s national domestic intelligence and security service, subordinate to the Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness. Different communication The day after the attack, PST were also clear that the shooting was an extreme Islamist terrorist act. Many have perceived that the Oslo police district and PST have communicated differently about the type of attack that had taken place on 25 June. The Oslo police worked with several hypotheses. They did not want to conclude, and said that the investigation had to show whether there was politically motivated violence or hate crime. – In the investigation, you cannot lock yourself into a hypothesis. It is a good thing about the Norwegian police that early in the investigation you have different hypotheses to work from, says Gangås to news. It was not until August 25 that the Oslo police district received information from the E-service. A month later, the Islamist Arfan Bhatti and two other people were charged with complicity in terrorism. All deny criminal guilt.
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Was informed of a terror alert two days after the mass shooting in Oslo – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
