– Yes, I am prepared that the outcome this time could be an unconditional prison sentence, says the woman to news. – Is what you do worth going to prison for? – I don’t feel that I have a choice. At the same time, it is completely unnecessary for society to have to spend resources on investigating me when I am only exercising my right to express myself. Freedom of expression is under pressure, she believes. – But you have already been sentenced? – Yes, it just shows that freedom of expression is a flexible term. The 21-year-old sees herself as an activist and human rights defender, who wants to document what she believes are reprehensible actions on the part of child protection. The background is her own experiences with child protection in her early teens, experiences she describes as highly traumatizing. Child protection received criticism – My father was accused of violence and sexual abuse against me and my brothers, which was not true. But I was moved to an emergency home, a foster home elsewhere in the country, and to an institution. Everything against my will, she says. The criminal case against the father was later dropped by the police, after she was admitted to the emergency room. Child protection was criticized by the supervisory authorities for the way they handled her case. She believes herself to have been traumatized by the treatment she received from child protection. Supervisory authorities have later approved her handling of her case. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Today she lives with her father somewhere in Rogaland. Among other things, the woman is accused of having been involved in the planning and organization when a younger girl managed to escape from a relief home in Rogaland. She then believed that the girl was there as a result of an illegal decision by the child welfare services. On Thursday, the trial against the woman starts in Sør-Rogaland district court. The police: – Serious cases She is also charged with an allegation on Facebook that a named employee in the child protection service must have committed gross negligence. Also part of the indictment is a Facebook posting with the name of a child welfare employee whom the 21-year-old believes must have committed an offence. Furthermore, she is also charged with having identified a lawyer who has previously been convicted of sexual intercourse with minors. The 21-year-old says she wanted to notify and make people aware of this lawyer, and that they must decide for themselves whether the person in question should represent them in their own case. The prosecutor’s office believes that all this is a violation of the following section of the Criminal Code: §266 of the Criminal Code “For by intimidating or troublesome behavior or other reckless behavior to have persecuted a person or otherwise violated the peace of another” – In our view, these are serious cases, not at least considering how many people follow her on social media, says police attorney Ingvild Anfinsen Sandal in the Sør-West police district. The police do not want to make any further comments before the trial. According to Anfinsen Sandal, parts of the case will probably go behind closed doors. Police attorney Ingvild Anfinsen Sandal in the South-West police district. Photo: Privat Sentenced in February In February this year, the woman was sentenced to 30 days’ suspended imprisonment in the Gulating Court of Appeal for having published similar posts about named persons on social media, including on YouTube and Facebook. The one group she published in had 24,000 members. The court pointed out that child protection staff carry out an important mission for society, and that the staff in the child protection service have a particular need for protection against what she was convicted of. After the verdict, several professional organizations within child protection expressed relief that she had been convicted. Have you caught the Brennpunkt series Instukids on news TV? Here, children and young people tell about the short way to pills and syringes at Norwegian child welfare institutions. – In terms of freedom of expression, the 21-year-old tells news that in the course of a year she may receive dozens of inquiries from children who say they have problems with child protection. On average, she takes on a new case every week. – Many of the people who contact me are placed in an institution, and they are destroyed psychologically. I don’t feel like I have a choice when I publish stories about them publicly. I cannot sit still and watch the injustice committed by child protection staff, says the activist. – You criticize individuals who have a role in child protection and identify them by name. Do you understand that they find this burdensome? – I know they find this offensive, but I never go into their private life. I am criticizing conditions they have made in their work, and therefore I believe this is systemic criticism. Besides, I never threaten anyone, she notes. – Can’t take responsibility for others The 21-year-old acknowledges that it can be a problem that people who follow her on social media go further than herself in the comments section. She also admits that she does not have the capacity to edit everything. – I think people must take responsibility for what they write. I can only stand for what I write and publish myself, she believes. Lawyer Maria Strømmen Lile, the woman’s defender, believes that the reality of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is that substantive criticism of the child welfare employee’s job is being stifled. – My client does not make threats, but criticizes employees in child protection because she believes they are not doing their job. She has not gotten the court to agree to this, says Strømmen Lile. Will take the case to Strasbourg The lawyer believes that there are several cases in the privacy board that have allowed this type of criticism against other professional groups such as lawyers and judges, as well as against foster parents. – We are going to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg with the final judgment from the Court of Appeal that the Supreme Court would not admit. I believe that what my client publishes is within the framework of freedom of expression, says Strømmen Lile. The accused 21-year-old admits to news that she wants to continue her activist activities, even if she were to be sentenced again. – But it may well be that I will have to change the use of means somewhat in that I will have to anonymize those I write about to a greater extent than before. But then I say at the same time that the state is helping to stifle my freedom of expression, she believes. Published 28.08.2024, at 22.12
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Woman (21) may end up in prison for criticizing child welfare staff – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
