The case grinds in his head all the time, the currently suspended policeman tells news. – It’s constantly in the back of my head and pressing on. And what presses the most is my desire for an acquittal, he says. The police violence case in Kongsberg on 30 October 2022 became known half a year after the incident, when the indictment came and the surveillance video was shown. – I felt that the media got the wrong angle right away: It wasn’t about a policeman being in a dangerous situation, but that it was about police violence, he says. In April this year, the policeman was sentenced to 120 days in prison in the Court of Appeal, after he was acquitted in the district court. The prosecution asked for half – 60 days in prison. Wants to get rid of the violent man stamp The policeman has appealed the case to the Supreme Court. He still sees a possibility of acquittal. Next week, the case will be heard in the country’s highest court. Now the prosecution has also tightened the demand for punishment. In their final submission to the Supreme Court, which was sent recently, they now agree with the Court of Appeal that 120 days is the right punishment. – I think people see the video and think it’s a violent man, which I’m not. – How does it feel? – It is burdensome. It’s nothing special. It’s a stamp I’d rather have off me, because it has nothing to do with who I am, either as a policeman or as myself. – Those who know me know that I am not a violent person, he says. It was an October night two years ago since the incident happened. The policeman ended up hitting Kevin Simensen repeatedly in the back of the head at a gas station in Kongsberg. The policeman said in court that he feared an angry atmosphere would escalate into more noise, and grabbed Simensen’s arm to talk to him. Simensen pulled his arm, and the policeman tried to take control by putting him on the ground. He then hit Simensen repeatedly in the head. And it is the blows on the ground that the policeman is convicted of. The majority concluded that the policeman is also guilty of punishable, grievous bodily harm against Simensen’s friend. The verdict states that the defendant hit his friend twice in the thigh with a baton at the same time as the victim backed away. Kevin Simensen is the main victim in the case. Photo: Caroline Utti / news – We started to lose The policeman says he was scared along the way because he met a lot of resistance. – Is there anything you could have done differently? – Not as I see in the video. And I’ve watched a lot of that video, thought – is there anything I could have done differently? But my answer is no. I don’t think I could have done anything differently. – You hit a man 14 times in the head and upper body with your fist. You hit with a baton. Do you think that was the right way to solve this situation? KVERNER: The policeman says there was a train of thought after the evening two years ago. Photo: Christian Ziegler Remme / news – In the situation here, it was necessary, justifiable and proportionate use of force. – I experience a fierce resistance, a fierce strength, which then causes me to respond in the way I do by using blows. – Doesn’t it look very violent? – It does. It’s the case that resisting arrest looks violent anyway. – What do you think when you take out the baton? – I understood that the blows I used had no effect. No effect at all. We started to lose, he says. The policeman has seen himself on the surveillance video many times. The man is wearing a yellow vest. Photo: Christian Ziegler Remme / news news has presented the policeman’s statements to the defense lawyer for the two aggrieved men. – My clients have the complete opposite view of it. That is at the core of what the Supreme Court must assess, says lawyer Øystein Storrvik. Lawyer Øystein Storrvik is assisting the two offended men. Photo: Tom Balgaard Goes out to the management: – Little understanding The man says he has received support from colleagues, but he finds it extra tough to be reported and receive criticism from his own. – I have a feeling that the management has little understanding of what we stand for when we are out working, says the policeman. He says it is burdensome to be reported by his own people and thinks the management does not know what the police officers face on the street. The boss replies: – Demanding news has asked the chief of police in the South-East police district several questions and asked for an interview about the case. Police Chief Ole B. Sæverud has responded as follows: – As a police district, we must both monitor our own employees and ensure the quality of the police service delivered to our residents. – It is both a requirement and an expectation that we involve the Special Unit for Police Affairs where the circumstances warrant it. Individual employees may find this demanding, but it does not change the responsibility we have, says police chief Sæverud. He explains that the decision to suspend the policeman is in line with the rules in the law for government employees. Before the case goes before the Supreme Court, the Bureau maintains that they believe the use of force went too far. They do not want to comment on the case now, but they show what was said when it was dealt with in the Court of Appeal. – Here, we believe that it was a situation that could have been solved by using verbal means. When it comes to the use of force, the public prosecutor’s opinion is that the type and force went far beyond what was necessary in the situation and what was proportionate, said head of prosecution investigations at the Bureau, Marit Oliver Storeng in April this year. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Police director Benedicte Bjørnland emphasizes that she “has always had confidence that the case will be thoroughly investigated and properly dealt with in the legal system.” news has asked the director of police several questions. She repeats the following in an e-mail: – It is true that I said that the video could appear shocking. At the same time, it was important for me to stress – then as now – that I did not take a position on guilt and whether what happened on the video was within the police’s scope of action or not. The policeman does not hide that the statement from the director of police has been burdensome for him. – It helped to make the matter less nuanced. You have to be able to nuance things in the media. Don’t get carried away, he says. Published 09.11.2024, at 19.05
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– Is there anything I could have done differently? My answer is no – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
