Ståle Prestøy (59) is hidden in a side street, close to one of Trondheim city center’s busiest access roads. He is wearing a dark green all-weather jacket. The hood is on. Under the jacket he has hidden a banner several meters long and an orange reflective vest with a painted skull. He is in the process of carrying out an illegal action, and is waiting for the clock to show the agreed time. Prestøy and a number of young people will sit in the middle of the street with banners stating that all oil exploration must be stopped. For the third day in a row, they are committing civil disobedience in Trondheim. The gray hair of the 59-year-old stands out in the gathering of protesters who stand together on Elgseter bridge. – There is no doubt that it is the young people who are first and foremost involved in this. They will notice it on the body soon. But we share the same commitment and we are just as passionate about doing something with the oil exploration, says Prestøy. What he and the other activists do sets the minds of many on fire. The criticism has also been harsh from several local politicians. FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug believes the foreign protesters should be expelled from the country. – Are there not better ways to promote this cause, in the way that democracy is actually facilitated for? – Now democracy has been working on this issue for fifty years and it has gone the wrong way with escalating speed in many areas. We have engaged a lot, in political parties, with climate strikes here and in front of the Storting. It’s going wrong anyway. Civil resistance is the way we have left, and we are prepared to use it, says the 59-year-old. Ståle Prestøy believes that civil unrest is his last opportunity to create a change in climate policy. Photo: Marthe Svendsen / news Omstridt Prestøy grew up in the Vestfjord outside Bodø and depicts a childhood marked by nature experiences, bird sounds and insects. Now the bird sounds have disappeared, the insects are fewer and the species diversity has changed, according to the activist. – It gives me chills on my back. I have followed and it has built up that I have had to go into this, says Prestøy about his climate commitment. The 59-year-old works as a system manager within IT in a government agency, and is open with colleagues and managers about his involvement – and that he participates in civil disobedience to protest against oil exploration. Prestøy says that the circle of friends supports the case he is fighting for, but that he encounters some criticism of the procedure. – The way we do this is controversial. We disrupt society and the daily donte to people, and it is difficult to swallow, he says. Prestøy has participated in illegal actions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Photo: Marthe Svendsen / news – Can be stupid At Elgseter bridge, the demonstrators work with fast movements. The vests are put on, the banner is rolled out and the six activists sit in lotus positions in the roadway. Rush traffic stops and several passers-by shout annoyed comments at the activists who have blocked the road. Ulrikke Thunby (22) is in the area on Wednesday morning. She supports the climate issue, but is unsure whether she supports the form of action. – I have a bit of mixed feelings. In a way, I think it’s important to bring the matter forward, because it’s desperation, that’s why you do it. But then there is disobedience, then. Tormod Gjestland (48) happens to pass by when the action takes place. He is unsure whether the form of demonstration benefits the activists’ cause. – I’m afraid it’s ruining for them. That can be silly. It is a climate issue, but in that way here I suspect that you get a harder way to go because people get annoyed with them, says Gjestland. Gjestland believes the activists irritate people and thus can destroy for their own cause. Photo: Marthe Svendsen / news Sunja Yassin (18) is also present in the area on Wednesday morning. She thinks the protesters’ use of civil disobedience is inside. – It’s to provoke. They get to show their case in a way, so I think that as long as there are no riots, it will be fine, she says. It does not take many minutes before three police cars arrive. They order the activists to withdraw, but Prestøy and the others refuse. The 59-year-old lies down in the street. Makes himself as heavy as he can. The last thing we see are three police officers who have to work together to remove Prestøy from the street and lift him into the police car. Experts do not think people understand the form of action Civil disobedience means breaking the law because it is believed that following the law will be morally and ethically worse than breaking it. This is what Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of political science at the University of Southeast Norway, says. – Disruptions to traffic and the general peace and order in society are punishable, and there is no right to break the law under certain circumstances, Thorsen says. Thorsen says there are no examples in Norwegian history where activists have achieved a direct goal as a result of civil disobedience. He refers to the actions against hydropower development in the Alta-Kautekeinovassdraget in the 70s. The power plants were built, but Thorsen believes that the activists still managed to achieve a greater focus on nature conservation and that the environmental movement achieved increased sympathy and recruitment. Thorsen says there have been no examples in Norwegian history where civil disobedience has achieved direct goals. Photo: Stian K Sande Thorsen doubts that the shareholders in Trondheim will achieve the goal of a complete halt in oil exploration. The logic becomes too unclear for ordinary people, the associate professor believes. – It becomes too difficult to explain to people sitting in line in their electric car why stopping them leads to directors of the oil company who do not live in Trondheim to change their behavior. So here I think the activists have thought too advanced, says Thorsen. Like the municipal director in Trondheim, the associate professor believes that civil disobedience may increase in scope in the years ahead, in addition to signature campaigns and various citizens’ initiatives. – It is because it is the individual cases that win out, as political parties and broad interest groups seem to lose their support, Thorsen says. Chooses prison over fines Four hours after the action started, Prestøy was released from the solitary confinement cell. He has been informed that he will be fined 17,000 kroner for having participated in illegal demonstrations in recent days. In addition, he will probably receive several fines from Oslo, after participating in illegal actions earlier this spring. He would rather go to jail than pay the fines. – We want to take the case as far as possible and appeal judgments as far as possible. If we get to the Supreme Court, it is good, and it has already happened for other organizations, says the 59-year-old. Prestøy and the young people have in no way intended to give in to civil disobedience. – I give in when the government says that oil exploration is stopped. Until then, we continue, simply. The 59-year-old says he will continue with civil disobedience until the goal is achieved: immediate cessation of all oil exploration. Photo: Marthe Svendsen / news
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Ståle Prestøy (59) is willing to go to prison for his case – news Trøndelag
