A young Norwegian man who was the victim of a brutal robbery in Oslo last fall was a guest of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) on Thursday, when politicians planned to grill Norway’s Justice Minister over a wave of street crime in recent months.
Sturla Nøstvik was walking home to his apartment in Oslo’s Torshov district when he was attacked by two other young men who beat him, robbed him, held him hostage while they used his bank cards to withdraw money from his accounts and threatened both him and his live-in partner. It was a terrifying experience reported in detail by newspaper Aftenposten in November.
It also was the latest of hundreds of robberies of men in Oslo that have caught the attention of politicians in parliament. Nøstvik is credited with giving robbery victims a face, after deciding to go public with his experience. Two suspects were arrested and one of them confessed, saying he had a bad conscience after reading Nøstvik’s account of the attack.
Nøstvik said he appreciated the invitation to Norway’s historic Storting, even though he’s trying to put the ordeal behind him. “It will be interesting to hear how the politicians think Oslo can become a safer city,” he told Aftenposten.
Police have made the robberies a high priority, and now believe most are tied to a gang of at least nine youth, several with immigrant background.
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