PST will investigate several cases of incitement against politicians – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country

As an elected politician, you have to have thick skin. The public debate can occasionally turn ugly, and in some cases it spills over into incitement and harassment. On Friday, the President of the Storting invited representatives from PST, Ap and Rødt to discuss the problems this entails, and what measures PST will take to prevent this. – Incitement and hate speech against politicians is a threat to our democracy, says the president of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani. – Everyone must feel that it is safe in politics. Extended mandate PST chief Beate Gangås hopes more elected officials will report. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news Harassment of politicians has increased in recent years, but since 2008 only 11 people have been convicted of this. From August 2024, PST will have an extended mandate to investigate offenses of a lesser degree of severity than what they are normally mandated to investigate. – We will no longer only concentrate on the most serious cases, but also provisions of a different nature that would otherwise be investigated by the police, says head of PST, Beate Gangås. She informs that PST will now encourage government officials to report harassment and harassment more often. – We are now writing a letter to all the ministries and the Storting to make them more aware that they can report. We are keen to get the right cases on which we can start investigations from August 2024. In addition, PST has invited the police to cooperate in order to secure local politicians. Want more action Hateful comments, harassment and, in the worst case, death threats have almost become commonplace for many politicians – and for their families. It came out in the Norwegian Police Academy’s report “Harassment and threats against politicians” from 2022. Two who have experienced a good dose of this are Rødt politician Sofia Rana, and Culture Minister Kamzy Gunaratnam. Kamzy Gunaratnam has had a double whammy by being both a woman and belonging to a minority. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news Rana experienced being threatened with his life by someone in a comment section, and a violence alarm was issued as a result of the statement. – I had to limit what I could announce from where I was going during the election campaign. It limits my democratic participation, she says. Both Rana and Gunaratnam have long been involved in politics, and say that the incitement does not particularly affect them. They are more concerned about those who are entering. – It is not my fault, but I am afraid we are losing both women and minorities from politics, says Gunaratnam. Rana calls for more direct threats to be prosecuted. – There are only eleven cases that have been prosecuted since 2008, and that is too few.



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