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Revision as of 12:00, 13 October 2010
Jack Erik Kjuus (18 January 1927 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian far-right politician of the former White Electoral Alliance who was convicted of racism in 1997. The party Kjuus led was an amalgation between two anti-immigrant parties, Stopp innvandringen ("Stop the immigration") and Hjelp de fremmede hjem ellers mister vi landet vårt ("Help the Aliens Back Home or We Will Lose Our Country").
Kjuus was born in Oslo.
Racism case
In 1995 the anti-immigrant White Electoral Alliance distributed fliers with a party program which among other things called for the forced sterilization of adoptive children from foreign cultures, and sterilization or deportation of the foreign element in a mixed relationship, as well as any children resulting from such relationships.
In February 1997, the city court in Oslo convicted Kjuus of violating the criminal law §135a which outlaws hateful remarks due to things like skin color. Kjuus was given a 60-day suspended jail sentence and fined 20000 Norwegian krone.
Supreme Court
Kjuus appealed the case directly to the Supreme Court of Norway who heard the appeal in November 1997. The chief justice Carsten Smith decided that the appeal would be heard with the entire Supreme Court since the case touched upon important questions of principle. Of the nineteen justices on the court, seventeen handled the case. Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn was recused from the case since he was formerly the prosecuting attorney who had charged Kjuus while Lars Oftedal Broch was absent due to illness.
The argument from the defense was that the verdict violated Kjuus' right to free speech (constitutionally protected by §100 in the Norwegian Constitution). Kjuus's attorney John I. Henriksen also argued that the party program did not target any specific ethnic group, and that since Kjuus's party was without any political power, any threats arising from the party program were completely abstract.
The appeal was rejected after only five of the seventeen justices voted for acquittal, while twelve voted to uphold the sentence. In fact, the Supreme Court went further, and convicted Kjuus for the all the points the prosecutor had argued were in violation of §135a. In the city court, Kjuus was only convicted for the part about adoptive children, in the Supreme Court he was also convicted due to the points on foreigners in general.
In the verdict authored by Karenanne Gussgard, the court opined that the party program called for ethnic cleansing, and that it involved "extreme infringements of integrity". The minority of five who voted to acquit agreed that the program was reprehensible, but that the free speech protections afforded by the constitutions §100 should have been given greater weight.
Reactions to the verdict were mixed, with Nils Øy of the Association of Norwegian Editors calling it a blow to free speech , while the society for the adopted expressed relief that the verdict had been expanded.
References and notes
- NORWAY 1998-9 Stephen Roth Institute
- Lovdata Template:No icon
- Kjuus tapte i Høyesterett ("Kjuus lost in the Supreme Court") Aftenposten, November 28, 1997 Template:No icon
- Rieber-Mohn erklærte seg inhabil i Kjuus-saken ("Rieber-Mohn recused in the Kjuus-case") November 4, 1997 Template:No icon
- Adoptivbarn følger nøye med (Adoptive children are following closely) Aftenposten, November 4, 1997 Template:No icon
- Kjuus vant ikke frem i Høyesterett ("Kjuus did not win in the Supreme Court") Aftenposten, November 29, 1997 Template:No icon
- Kjus-dommen: - Et tap for ytringsfriheten ("The Kjuus-verdict: A blow to free speech") Aftenposten, November 28, 1997 Template:No icon
- Adoptivbarna glade over kjennelsen Aftenposten, November 28, 1997 Template:No icon
External links
- Norway axt.org