On Monday 20 September 2021, a man entered Nav Årstad in Bergen. On his back he had a bag with a knife. In a user conversation with Marianne Amundsen and Ida Aulin, he pulled out the knife. Amundsen was killed after being stabbed 47 times. Seven of them alone would have been fatal, the coroners told the court on Thursday. From a bench in the courtroom, the older brother has followed the case together with Amundsen’s children this week. On Monday, it emerged that Amundsen was probably trapped in the room during the attack. – As a brother, it is one of the worst things to know. I have thought that as an older brother I have to protect my siblings. She was my little sister. We had a close and nice relationship, and I feel I should have been in that room and protected her, says Olsen. The 40-year-old man who is charged with the murder acknowledges the actual circumstances and his guilt, but believes that he himself was insane. Marianne Amundsen (57) was head of department at Nav Årstad. Photo: Ole Myklebust Amundsen Pandemic led to changed furniture During the second day of the trial, section leader Hilde Skjelvik Larsen explained that furniture in the room was changed during the pandemic. This led to a passage past the desks in the room, on the same side as the doors out of the room. Big brother believes the pandemic is not a good enough explanation. – The relationship between user and employee between Nav must be unaffected by it. You can’t gamble on safety. If you take safety seriously, measures must be carried out regardless, says Olsen. This drawing shows how the NAV office was decorated that day. Previously, the desks must have stood against the same wall as the exit doors. Photo: Police Section leader Larsen himself witnessed the attack, and was a close colleague of Amundsen. During the trial, she explained that she was the first to call relatives about the incident. Pål Gerhard Olsen on his way into Hordaland district court in Bergen. Photo: Julianne Bråten Mossing / news Assistance attorney May Britt Løvik asked several questions about the safety of the section leader during the third day of the trial. – Was security taken care of this day? – I think the way the standard was, and the way we worked together, that should have been enough. The security was within the security framework, and we considered the reception and the room to be safe enough before it happened. – But I can’t sit here now and say it was safe enough, because then nothing would have happened to Marianne and Ida, she said during her testimony on Wednesday. The conversation room at Nav Årstad where the attack took place. Photo: The police – Still expecting an apology On Monday, public assistance lawyer Løvik called for a public apology from Nav to the bereaved. It did not take place because Nav believes the minimum standard for the conversation room was met. Olsen is disappointed by the response from Nav. – I still expect an apology and that Nav thinks fundamentally differently about security. I think they must have the courage and backbone needed to get into the reality of the matter, and not try to cover up what it looked like at Nav Årstad last year, says the brother. After the attack, Nav tightened security at the offices. Pål Gerhard Olsen and the children are still calling for an apology from Nav. Photo: Julianne Bråten Mossing / news But Olsen believes that Nav has not given a sufficient account of how the interview room was designed on the day the attack happened – I feel that Marianne has been subjected to neglect on behalf of all of us. She was at the forefront of society, but no one gave her the protection she was entitled to. – The impression has only been supported by what we have heard in court so far, he says. The Nav management in Vestland has been presented with the allegations from Olsen. – We do not recognize ourselves in claims that NAV has covered up what has happened. From the outset, we have been keen to get all the facts on the table. Bergen municipality and NAV have cooperated well with the police and arranged for all information to come out. The ongoing court case will hopefully give both us and the next of kin answers, writes Tommy Johansen, municipal director in Bergen, in an e-mail. Tommy Johansen is municipal director in Bergen municipality and has employee responsibility for the municipal part of Nav. Photo: Julianne Bråten Mossing / news The minimum standard on security does not say anything about how a meeting room should be furnished, according to Johansen. Read the full answer in the fact box: Answer from Tommy Johansen, municipal director in Bergen We are deeply saddened by the loss of Marianne Amundsen. What happened at NAV Årstad on 20 September last year will be with us forever. Managers, security representatives and shop stewards at NAV Årstad assessed security as good enough before this happened. The risk assessments were based on thorough surveys, experiences and imagined scenarios. In the aftermath of such a tragic event, we must look back at what could have been done differently. We do not recognize claims that NAV has covered up what has happened. From the outset, we have been keen to get all the facts on the table. Bergen municipality and NAV have cooperated well with the police and arranged for all information to come out. The ongoing court case will hopefully provide both us and the next of kin with answers. We have also worked well with the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority, which carried out inspections after the incident. We obviously want our employees to work under safe conditions, and have no motive to keep anything hidden. As far as the furnishings are concerned, we can do nothing but refer to Hilde Larsen’s testimony. There it emerged that what is practice is that the person who is going to use the room prepares it before taking someone in for a conversation. It also emerged that the management team has carried out risk assessments of the room. The minimum standard does not say anything about how a meeting room should be furnished. – Fighting on two fronts For Amundsen and the four children, the issue of responsibility is important for the grieving process. They have announced that there may be a lawsuit against Nav following the trial if Amundsen’s trade union supports this financially. – As long as guilt and responsibility are not acknowledged, we have to fight on two fronts. We have to fight in our own loss and grief work, but at the same time against a counterpart who could have been a collaborative partner, says the brother. Hey! news is closely following the trial after the Nav attack. 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– I feel I should have been in the room and protected her – news Vestland
