– I am very disappointed, I had expected a different result. For me, it is an openly racially motivated act, says Cathrine Linn Kristiansen to news. She was with her friend Sumaya Jirde Ali at a bar when Atle Antonsen allegedly said that Ali was “too dark-skinned” to be there. Ali reported Antonsen to the police for hate speech and careless behaviour. The public prosecutor has now dropped the case. – For me, who was present and has read her descriptions, it is clear that the incident was both racist and threatening. The police have the same opinion. I don’t think this changes that. The public prosecutor believes that the statement to Atle Antonsen is not qualified as offensive in the context in which it was presented. The case was therefore dismissed due to a lack of evidence. – What the removal does is show how bad legal protection you have against racism, says Kristiansen. – Behaved appallingly – On Atle’s behalf, I would like to convey that what he is most concerned about now is that this dismissal does not lead to more discomfort for Sumaya Jirde Ali than what she has already experienced, says his lawyer Marianne Klausen to NTB on Friday evening. She adds that Atle Antonsen has been aware that there has never been any question of witnessed hate speech in this case. Atle Antonsen says through his lawyer that he is concerned that the removal does not lead to more discomfort for Ali. Photo: Mariam Butt / NTB – It still does not change the fact that he behaved terribly badly this evening. Atle understands that the case has been and still is a great burden for those involved, regardless of how the state attorney has assessed the case, she says. Imbalance of power One thing that Kristiansen believes the State Attorney did not take into account in the dismissal was the imbalance of power between Ali and Antonsen. – He is twice as old as she. He is ten times as famous as she. He is a white, tall, big aggressive man, and she is sitting down and is a 24-year-old black woman, she says and adds: – I feel that the rationale that the public prosecutor came up with does not take it in. The matter of Antonsen and Ali has received a lot of attention in the media in the last week, and Kristiansen says Ali has received a lot of support. – The vast majority of people understand that this was way over the line, and that it was racist. I think that is positive. But there is still a terrible comment field that comes with a lot of anger towards Sumaya, she says and adds: – It shows that racism still pervades our entire society and that racist attitudes live in many of us. – Seems sensible Law professor Alf Petter Høgberg says to TV 2 that the removal “seems sensible”. – Based on the situation, I don’t think it sounds unreasonable, he says. He explains that one cannot ignore the fact that it was really meant as a joke on Antonsen’s part. – And if he really meant that he was trying to be funny and tried to find support around him to show that it was a joke, then it can be difficult to say that this is careless or grossly careless, he says to the channel.
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– Shows how bad legal protection is against racism – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
