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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Politician resigns all posts after arrest

A politician for the conservative Progress Party has resigned all his posts after he was arrested earlier this month on charges related to drugs and child pornography. He has also resigned from the party, according to a party spokesman.

Newspaper VG reported on Wednesday that the politician, a man in his 40s from Eastern Norway, has been charged with possession of photographs depicting sexual assaults on children and for narcotics violations. In accordance with press practices in Norway, he has not been identified.

Until recently, reported VG, he was a member of a local city council and earlier held national political posts. He was arrested May 9 and remains in police custody. Police raided his home and workplace in addition to other locations, on suspicion of the sexual assault photos, and found drugs in the process.

“The investigation in its early stages and police can’t yet reveal more information,” the prosecutor in the man’s home district told VG.

Helge André Njåstad, a Member of Parliament for the Progress Party and leader of its organizational committee, told state broadcaster NRK that the man alerted the party to his arrest himself, had resigned all political positions and withdrew his membership in the party. “This is now a matter for the police,” Njåstad told NRK.

The man’s defense attorney, Gunhild Lærum, described the case as “a personal tragedy,” the extent of which was not yet clear. “He is very sorry and is having a difficult time,” Lærum told VG.

newsinenglish.no staff

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