This week, Justice Minister Mehl will meet the EU countries’ interior and justice ministers in Stockholm – a meeting the leader of the Progress Party hopes will be instructive for the Justice Minister.
– I hope she gets good knowledge and input on what she can do to prevent us from getting Swedish conditions in Norway. This must be stopped now, says Sylvi Listhaug.
TV 2 meets her in Klingenberggata in central Oslo, where two men in their 30s and 40s were shot on Sunday night a week and a half ago.
OSLO CENTRE: On the night of Sunday 15 January, two men were shot near the National Theater in central Oslo. The police are investigating the case as attempted murder. Photo: Frode Sunde / TV 2
The two men are linked to the criminal gang Young Guns, while the two accused, who were arrested in Milan before the weekend, are said to have links to the MC gang Satudarah.
The accused are young men in their early 20s.
– That’s what I said
On Tuesday this week, TV 2 did an interview with Gunnar Appelgren in Stockholm. He is the Swedish police’s expert on gang crime, and has worked in this field for more than 30 years.
In the interview, he asks the Norwegian police and society at large to be vigilant in order to avoid a wave of violence similar to what Sweden has seen in the past year. In 2022, 62 people were shot and killed in Sweden.
– He asks us to learn from them, and that is what I said in 2017 when I traveled to Sweden. It was already bad then, but it has only gotten a lot worse since then, says Listhaug.
VISIT IN 2017: When Sylvi Listhaug was minister for immigration and integration, she went to visit Rinkeby outside Stockholm. Afterwards, she received a lot of criticism for warning against “Swedish conditions”. Photo: Anders Wiklund / NTB
She believes that things are going in the wrong direction in this country as well, and that it is now time for Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl to wake up.
– I think she has been very passive, and now I hope she uses the opportunity to talk to the Swedish minister, says Listhaug.
TV 2 has presented Mehl with the criticism from the former Minister of Justice.
– First it is important to say that the situation in Norway is not comparable to that in Sweden, says Mehl and continues:
– For this government, it has been important to strengthen the police’s efforts against gang crime. We will now start establishing a new police station at Mortensrud, which is a vulnerable area in Oslo. We also want faster sentences against young gang criminals.
Metlid: – Relatively stable numbers
Sylvi Listhaug believes that the use of violence among the criminal gangs in Oslo is worse now than when she was Minister of Justice.
– Definitely. We now see shootings happening as often as they do, and gang riots out in the neighbourhood. It is a development that is going in a very wrong direction, says Listhaug.
– You say it is definitely worse now than when you were minister. Do you have any numbers on that?
– We only see the development that has taken place, that very often new episodes appear in the media. I don’t have concrete figures here now, but we are seeing the development, and the police have probably also said themselves that there has been a negative development.
POLITITOPP: Police inspector Grete Lien Metlid leads the department that investigates the most serious cases in the Oslo police district. Photo: Magnus Kaslegard / TV 2
TV 2 has asked Grete Lien Metlid, who heads the joint unit for intelligence and investigation in the Oslo police district, whether it is actually the case that it is worse now than it has been historically.
– So, this varies and we have had several incidents in a short period of time, so it is perhaps not so strange that you get this type of concern and perhaps an impression that there will be more and more such cases, but in general this holds because these figures are relatively stable, says Metlid.
Metlid answered this question on Tuesday evening, before TV 2 had interviewed Sylvi Listhaug for this matter.
– One difference from the neighboring country
Mehl and Listhaug agree that we in Norway are still far from the wave of violence that has increased in Sweden in recent years.
Nevertheless, Listhaug does not feel confident that Norway will not end up in a similar situation.
– How confident are you, when you see the situation in Sweden, that we will not have a similar situation in Norway?
– In Norway, the police do a lot of good work to create security in Oslo and to go against the criminal gangs. Then we must have realized that there is not a comparable situation between Norway and Sweden right now, says Mehl before she adds:
– We will still go after the crime. For example, shooting in Oslo is not acceptable.
She points out that the police in Norway clear up far more of the most serious cases of violence than the Swedes manage, which she believes is very important.
– It has a preventive effect in itself. In Norway, there is a high clearance rate. Unfortunately, it is much lower in Sweden, and it is a difference that is quite significant, says Mehl.
Promotes three proposals
The Progress Party is now putting forward three proposals particularly aimed at shooting in public places, and will:
- Introduce separate visitation zones where the police are authorized to search people for weapons without further suspicion.
- Sharpen the penalties for illegal gun possession.
- Introduce general arming of the police.
KLINGENBERGGATA: TV 2 met Sylvi Listhaug (Frp) in Klingenberggata, where two men were shot on the night of 15 January. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
– Now we have to get control of the weapons, and we have to stop being so naive and ensure that the police get general armaments, which they have been asking for for a long time. Now the time has come, says Listhaug.
The FRP leader cannot answer specifically where and how the visitation zones will function, but wants the police themselves to be able to help shape the implementation of this in practice.
