Threats against a member of the Storting
Supreme Court judgment 17 October 2019, HR-2019-1922-A, (case no. 19-70106STR-HRET), criminal case, appeal against judgment
I.
A (Counsel Brynjar Nielsen Meling) v. The Public Prosecution Authority (Counsel Fredrik G. Ranke)
II.
A (Counsel Brynjar Nielsen Meling) v. B (Counsel Halvard Helle)
Justices: Matningsdal, Matheson, Kallerud, Ringnes, Steinsvik
A man connected to the Islamist environment, had sent three text messages to a member of the Storting, and an eight minutes long video speech posted on YouTube, where he also talked about the member. The text messages were highly defamatory, containing serious outbursts against the member, but could not in themselves be considered as threats. However, the video speech contained statements that could only be interpreted to mean that he both legitimised and encouraged violent attacks on the member. The Supreme Court therefore found that the statements in the video speech, but not in the text messages, were punishable under section 263 of the Penal Code. The offence was also covered by section 115 of the Penal Code, which was leading in the sentencing, as there was no doubt that the man, by the use of threats, had caused danger that a member of the Storting would be affected in his or her activities. The penalty was stipulated to two years and six months of imprisonment.