Bad News from Norway

Norwegian kids told to sit tight during bomb threat

There was a bomb scare at a junior high school in the coastal municipality of Karmøy which was serious enough that a bomb squad was flown in by helicopter. It turned out to be a pretty sophisticated hoax, thankfully,

But classes continued, even though some of the kids were frightened and scared. Now, several are saying that classes should have been dismissed.

Governmental "rape commission" reports on prevalance of sexual assault

The Norwegian government commissioned a task force to examine the prevalence of sexual assault in Norway and what can be done to remedy the situation. According to the commission, there are about 16,000 rapes or attempted rapes in Norway each year. Out of a population of 4.7 million. Of these, about 1,000 are reported to the police. At least 9 of 10 are left unreported, due to various reasons, including a lack of knowledge among victims that they have been violated. And those who report it, have little reason to be assured - the police closes 80% of cases reported to them without prosecuting anyone. All in all, about 1% of rapists in Norway are ever convicted.

One issue identified by the commission is that immigrants are more likely to commit sexual assaults than ethnic Norwegians. So one proposed measure is to provide all immigrants on a training program on why rape is bad.

Serial child molester arrested after at least 300 victims over 30 years

One of the most severe cases of pedophilia ever seems finally to be resolved in Norway. The so-called "Pocket man" (Lommemannen) was arrested around January 11th. He's a suspect for at least 300 cases of child molestation that have taken place in the course of at least 30 years. The man is from Bergen, in his mid 50s, and has two children of his own. Although the police have had DNA samples for quite some time, they didn't have any suspects to check them against.

More street violence in Oslo

Aftenposten reports that there has been a sharp escalation in youth gang warfare in Oslo the last few days, focusing mostly on three more or less formal gangs with territories in Søndre Nordstrand, including Holmlia, Mortensrud and Bjørndal; Groruddalen, including Furset and Trosterud; and central Oslo, including Grønland, Tøyen, and Grünerløkka. In other words, vast sections of Oslo east of Akerselven.

The police take this seriously but concede they have no idea what the context or motivation for this escalation might be. The leader in Youth Against Violence, Farid Bouras, says that the reported violence probably understates the problem, as gang members are unlikely to report incidents. There is also concern that the youth gangs are extensions of organized crime in Oslo.

Graveyard brawl in Oslo

A neo-Nazi group of about 15 apparently meets annually at the German military graveyard in Oslo every year to light candles at the gravestones. But this year a group of about 20 "anti-fascist" activists attacked the neo-Nazis with bats and bayonets. Five of the neo-Nazis were injured, but the police didn't arrive in time to arrest any of the attackers. Police have since concluded that this was a carefully planned assault, and that the attackers may have been impersonating police officers.

Widespread use of bad meat in Oslo's kebab stands

The Norwegian policy have uncovered highly organized activities in Oslo to smuggle and produce unsanitary meat for sale in Oslo's kebab stands. The latest instance was a raid against one such stand in Brugata in Oslo, in which officials from the police, the nutritional agency, the the fire department, customs, and the intelligence group took part. This follows the arrest of a Swede smuggling in about 1500 lbs of bad meat, and a wider investigation on the matter that shows bad meat being sold to consumers for several years.

Another series of rapes in Oslo

Last night, two women were raped in Oslo, the police conceding they have very little evidence to help solve the crimes. This has become a bit of a pattern in Oslo of brutal and unsolved rapes, though these assaults are but a fraction of the total number of sexual assaults in Oslo. So far, the police have suspects for only five of the assaults.

Sexual assault mere exploitation in Norway

An academic study at the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo shows that forcibly having sex with a mentally retarded person in Norway is unlikely to be treated like rape, but rather as "exploitation." Exploitation is a lesser criminal offense in terms of the prescribed penalty.

This is because the definition of rape in Norwegian law only includes coercion through violence or threat of violence, and doesn't include coercion against defenseless people. As a result, people who rape physically or mentally disabled people, are merely taking advantage of them - according to the Norwegian penal code, anyway.