– Here, I think everything is absolutely ravishingly fucking wrong. Maciek Ofstad from Rogaland writes this in a post on Instagram on Saturday. On Monday 4 September, he was subjected to indiscriminate violence in Åkebergveien in Oslo. Ofstad writes in the post that he was knocked to the ground by a man in his late 20s who was jogging. – I was terrified, stunned, and now I was lying and receiving a mega-beating from an adult, strong, and very drunk jogger in Åkebergveien, in broad daylight, he writes. Ofstad called 112, and a patrol car arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. Maciek Ofstad is a guitarist in the rock band Kvelertak. Photo: Nima Taheri / news – Knocked down, and racism According to the Instagram message, he is helping the police to catch the perpetrator, but in connection with the arrest something happens that Ofstad perceives as racism from the police. – The police officer comes up to me after they have him in the car and says “If you lie to me now, you are in BIG trouble” with an aggressive and threatening tone. Ofstad further writes that the police officer must have been given up when he told them that his name was Maciek. – Knocked down, and racism, he asserts. In an e-mail to news, the police reject the accusations of racism. – The police on the scene who handled the situation say they do not recognize the victim’s description of what was said in the short conversation, neither the words, the form nor allusions to racism, writes press manager at the Oslo police district, Unni T. Grøndal. Furthermore, they state that they urged Ofstad to report the incident of violence. news has been in contact with Maciek Ofstad’s manager, Kim Paulsen, who says that Ofstad will not comment on the matter further than what has already been done on Instagram. Here he is also critical of the fact that the case was dropped after a short time, even though they had caught the man who, according to Ofstad, had committed blind violence. Complaining about the decision He directs a question to Emilie Enger Mehl and the police. – Do things like this happen because you don’t give Benedicte Bjørnland enough resources to enable the police to solve such an obvious case? A case where I myself pointed out the perpetrator minutes after he stabbed me in the face and straight into the asphalt? Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl tells VG that she cannot go into individual cases, but understands that it seems provocative from the Kvelertak guitarist’s rendering of what has happened. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Police Inspector Henriette Taxt Røstadli writes to news that they understand that Ofstad is reacting to the dismissal: – The case was dismissed according to the state of the evidence due to evidentiary doubts about the subjective conditions of criminal liability, namely whether the accused has the necessary degree of culpability. A preliminary forensic psychiatric examination of the accused in the case has been carried out. The conclusion here was that there is doubt as to whether the accused was in a mental state which entails insanity. To fully clarify this, a full judicial investigation is needed, she writes. Ofstad has appealed against the decision on closure. – If the closure is formally appealed, it will be forwarded to the Oslo State Attorney’s Office for appeal processing, Taxt Røstadli informs. Understand that it seems provocative To VG, Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl has also commented on the criticism directed at her in the Instagram post: – What Ofstad describes makes an impression. Violence is never okay, and I understand that it seems provocative from his rendering of what happened. Unfortunately, I cannot go into individual cases. I therefore do not know the police’s assessment or perception of the incident, or what is behind the closure, but have not yet received an answer, says Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl to VG.
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Kvelertak guitarist Maciek Ofstad was beaten on Monday and had the case dropped on Thursday – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
