Frederic Hauge, the high-profile head of the environmental group Bellona, was forced to cancel his trip to the UN climate summit in Mexico this week. The reason: He wound up in the hospital after a dramatic meeting with thieves.
Hauge, age 45, encountered the thieves in the backyard of his own apartment building in Oslo, reported VG Nett. They were in the process of stealing a bicycle, and when he tried to stop them, they put up a fight.
Hauge suffered a broken leg, reports Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), and was sent to hospital. “The doctors tells us he’ll be okay, but he needs some time with peace and quiet,” Marius Holm, deputy leader of Bellona, told NRK.
Holm and give other member of Bellona had to travel to Cancun without Hauge, and would try to cover the activities and events that Hauge had planned to attend.
Police were holding two men, aged 25 and 26, in custody after the theft that turned violent. Both have been charged with bodily assault.
Hauge is well-known in environmental circles outside of Norway as well, after his years as an activist. In 2007, he was named as one of Time Magazine‘s “Heroes of the Environment” for his work with Bellona, which he co-founded in 1986.
Views and News staff