Eivind Berge, the Norwegian Men’s Rights blogger who was arrested after making repeated death threats against police on his blog, has been released from jail. The country’s Supreme Court has ruled that his comments – in which, among other things, he talked about how killing police was on his “bucket list” – are not illegal. His property will be returned to him and he is evidently entitled to compensation for his time in jail.
As far as I can figure it from the Google-translated articles I’ve read, the Supreme Court has ruled that statements on the internet are not “public” and therefore his threats don’t count as “incitement” under the law. Here’s what one article says:
Supreme Court’s Appeals Committee believes statements Berge has made on his blog are not covered by the Freedom of the definition in the Penal Code. incitement to violence and murder of police officers are therefore not presented publicly in the legal sense and therefore is not criminal, says the Supreme Court.
Apparently the issue was a fairly narrow legal one. According to the same article, the law under which he was prosecuted (written long before the birth of the Internet) “operates with a public safety and publishing concept that … do not take account of electronic publishing on the Internet.” The majority on the Supreme Court, the article goes on to say, felt that “the indictment includes actions that are clearly worthy of punishment,” but that existing law does not allow punishment for statements made on the Internet.
If anyone here knows Norwegian, let me know if this is correct. Here and here are several more articles in Norwegian, translated by Google. Here’s an article in English, written before the Supreme Court rendered its judgment, that spells out the issues a little more clearly.
On his blog, Berge celebrates his victory in the courts:
My blog is legal after all. The police had no lawful basis for pursuing criminal charges against me. This means the case has collapsed for the prosecution and I will be entitled to compensation for the three weeks I spent in prison. I was arrested and jailed for speech which the Supreme Court has ruled is legal, so obviously the entire prosecution was utterly baseless.
He considers his release a giant victory for Men’s Rights:
Being a political prisoner provided a welcome boost to my activism. … The entire process has been tremendously empowering for the Men’s Rights Movement. This spectacular prosecution of an MRA sparked debate and demonstrated to the horror of the feminist establishment that there are more antifeminists out there than they knew. I am not some kind of extremist easily dismissed, even though some of my writings may appear somewhat ungenteel. While my kind of violent rhetoric is legal, it is no longer needed. We are strong enough to fight feminism in more elegant and subtle ways now.
I will highlight some of Berge’s “ungenteel” opinions in future posts.
See here and here for previous posts of mine on Berge, which include many examples of his “violent rhetoric.”
Robert – http://love-shy.com/
I am serious. That’s a group of people who understand and are sympathetic to your plight. I remain perplexed as to why you continue to seek absolution at Man Boobz, of all places. These people don’t care; in fact, they’re deeply invested in minimizing and dismissing you. For God’s sake, these people have made a hobby out of mocking men’s pain, like yours. It’s not a safe space in the least; it’s the complete opposite.
Obviously, only creeps would want to use taxpayer money to force desperate women to spend time with them, This is not a challenging concept.
You already said you didn’t think the women should be paid very much, Robert. Unless you think that all women are on the verge of starvation, that’s not enough of an incentive to get women to sign up for the “date a man who no other woman seems to want” program.
But hey, at least you’re inadvertently admitting that you are asking for government-provided prostitution, if the (meager) money is to be the woman’s reason for signing up. What a great plan to take advantage of the poor!
@Steele
Robert’s not looking for absolution. He’s looking to make women pay attention to him, which he can’t get at love-shy. He got what he wanted, and that’s why he’s staying.
Of all things to spend taxpayer money on, I think “hiring escorts for 24-year-olds who haven’t had sex for 6 months” is probably at the very bottom of the list.
>>>People will do a lot for money, especially in this economy.
So you ARE talking about coercing women into dating men? (Yes, I’m aware some people told you to go see a sex worker, personally I don’t think of that as an ethical solution.)
No, we really aren’t all designed to look for a partner and procreate. Look up asexual, aromantic, and childfree sometime.
…I feel like this is flower-arranging on the Titanic, but DAMMIT THAT VASE IS EMPTY. :p
@ Sir Bodsworth – People will be able to guess our age to the year 😉 Remember The Big Gig on TV?
“coercing women into dating men” – especially taking into account that if you are offered a job and don’t take it, they stop your dole for a couple of months.
This guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramoedya_Ananta_Toer
spent 20 years of his life in prison without charge, long periods in solitary confinement. He was beaten by police and guards, tortured for information and yes, deprived of his relationship with the woman he loved. Then he wrote some of the best books in human history, instead of commiting murders.
See what I’m getting at here?
Robert – loathe as I am to agree with Steelepole, maybe you should take his advice. Or anyone’s advice for that matter, because the one thing everyone giving you advice agrees on is that your current direction is self defeating. Government Dating Program? Not going to happen.
Let me repeat that:
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Seriously, have you read a newspaper in the last forty years? Government programs and services that actually need to exist are being cut, defunded and privatised. So your idea of a new taxpayer funded office to help people with a self-diagnosed internet condition?
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
Not going to happen.
So if you place all your hopes – or any of your hopes, for that matter – on this government department coming into being, NOTHING WILL EVER GET BETTER FOR YOU.
BlackBloc, I deleted the comment. I understand the anger, but it was inappropriate.
Yes, I agree, and I see no convincing evidence to the contrary.
After, or because of? Pick one. My hypothesis is that both had/have underlying issues, and that a misogynistic culture allowed them to hate women enough to want to murder groups of them. Sodini blogged for months about his “involuntary” celibacy, precisely the opposite of my advice. After, therefore because?
Going on and on about how people are murdering you by not helping you get laid is practically the definition of entitled douchebag. Not to mention talking about being in a sexless relationship “AGAINST MY WILL”! If no one wants to fuck you, suck it up.
Except that no one has taken anything away from you. You have exactly the same chance as the rest of us.
Oh right, I forgot, “involuntary celibacy” puts all the onus on other people for not wanting to fuck you. See the above about entitled douchebaggery.
You’re not preventing any risk, kid, you’re just attempting to offload it onto a specific group of women by forcing them to participate in government-led prostitution, which they will apparently be forced into by poverty.
I’m surprised your parents haven’t disowned you.
@ Magpie – Yeah, Big Gig was awesome. Was Paul McDermott the only one of that crowd to hit the big time, or am I forgetting someone?
You realize that religious leaders are people, right? The Dalai Lama has the same sexual urges as the rest of us. He is, regardless, not a serial killer.
PTSD is a bigger problem than not being in a relationship. The fuck is wrong with you?
“Immense pain” I didn’t get laid as a teenager, and guess what? I still had a great time. If you feel intense pain right now, I can 100% guarantee you that being in a relationship will not fix it.
Things the government could spend money on:
1. Claims processing for refugees
2. Food and medical aid to save people from horrible deaths in the developing world
3. Prostitutes for lonely middle class dudes
4. Improved living conditions for the elderly
One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong…
@ Sir B – Names escape me, but some of those people are still around. McDermott seems to be the most consistently successful, though. Good News Week was a good show, too.
“No coercion. They just have to give it up if they want to keep their job.”
Creep.
You realize that Berge has a girlfriend, right? He’s still a violent asshole. He gets laid much more than the Dalai Lama, and yet is an indescribaly larger asshat.
How does that fit into your theory?
People are made to look for a mate and so naturally are destroyed by incel; people react to things differently, so what do you know about it, fellow “incel”; and religious leaders are an exception because.
Just about the only constant here is entitled douchebaggery.
@ Magpie – Yeah, GNW was fun. And I guess I still see Wendy Harmer pop up now and then. Gylnn Nicholas was my favourite, though, and he seems to have dropped right off the map.
You’re getting at the fact that misogynist assholes, who spend their lives whining about women on the internet and paying people to learn manipulation tactics, are more likely to kill women than people who spend their time writing novels that in a fair world would win the Nobel prize. This holds true even if neither is having sex. It’s a good point.
So, what we’ve established is that Robert doesn’t think economic coercion is coercion, even when the government is involved. This totally fills me with confidence about his ability to have sex without being coercive,
Reposting this Incel Bingo (don’t think I put it in this thread yet) for anybody who wants to play:
http://imgur.com/nNX1d
Also Mr. I Was Killed Dead I am really not sure what you want from women or the government or whatever here. First you were complaining about dates and saying it wasn’t about sex, but now you’re saying you’ve gone on quite a lot of dates and it’s your relative lack of sexual experience that’s killing you. The fact that you’re upset and miserable and don’t really appear to know what’s wrong except for some general sense of anger at your romantic-sexual situation is what’s making us say that there’s something going on with you other than “incel” and that you might benefit from therapy.
@ Sir Bodsworth – Glynn Nicholas! Thankyou – i’ve been trying for days to remember that name. He was my favourite too. I met him once, a really lovely man. Remember his Sgt f’k’n’ Smith? 🙂