Police and their special intelligence agency PST felt compelled to meet the press in Oslo this week after Norway’s justice minister, Tor Mikkel Wara, was threatened yet again over the weekend. They’ve come under criticism for failing to avert attacks on his home.
“We are investigating these incidents as our highest priority,” PST director Benedicte Bjørnland told reporters at a press conference along with Oslo’s assistant police chief Bjørn Vandvik.
They admitted they have no concrete suspects and that they deeply regret how a Wara family car was set on fire during the weekend while parked outside their home. The fire should not have been possible to set, editorialized newspaper Dagsavisen on Tuesday.
Vandvik declined to detail what kind of extra security measures are in place around Wara’s family but said Oslo police had “strengthened” its surveillance of the home. PST is charged with protecting government ministers, while Oslo Police are responsible for his family.
Wara continued to get more support from fellow politicians on Monday, also from the floor of Parliament. The series of puzzling attacks on his home, in the form of vandalism, arson and written threats left in his mailbox, has been described as a threat to Norway’s rule of law and democracy. Wara has been reluctant to comment on them, but called the threats “uncomfortable” on Tuesday.
newsinenglish.no staff
