– I have the feeling that something was not right – VG

– I was afraid they would not believe me, said the former FRP minister at the Oslo District Court on Wednesday.

He says it was unpleasant when, a few days before Laila Bertheussen’s arrest, he suspected that the coexistence of the Minister of Justice could be behind the actions. Bertheussen was arrested by PST on March 14, 2019.

Tybring-Gjedde, who was then Minister for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, notified the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK) of his suspicions through a Council of Ministers.

– We realized that this was a serious matter, both for them personally and for the country. I thought that the suspicion should get the attention of the Prime Minister, if the suspicion was right or wrong, we should not decide. I went to the ministry, he says from the witness stand.

She adds:

– But it was a demanding situation for me, how should it appear? What should I say that I thought it was the partner of the Minister of Justice who had done this here?

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Gradually suspected

Before this suspicion, Tybring-Gjedde had spoken with Bertheussen about the incidents, both in the Messenger group to which Bertheussen was invited, and over dinner, among other things. PST security measures were the subject of group discussion.

– It was clear that the security measures had been rejected. That worried me. Because when PST proposes security measures, of course it accepts them. You welcome them gratefully. I’m worried that Bertheussen was very negative about the PST, she says.

On March 10 it is raining for Tybring-Gjedde after contact with Bertheussen. This is the same day Bertheussen is accused of starting a fire in the trunk of the family’s car.

Tybring-Gjedde received a message from Bertheussen in the evening, to which he replied in the morning.

– I realize that she is strangely calm, and I do not understand why the cameras in the house did not capture this. I have a feeling something was wrong. It increased when there were more estimates. A few days before she was arrested, Rita Karlsen and I spoke on the phone. Here we vent our unpleasant suspicion for the first time, he explains.

When asked by Judge Yngvil Thue, Tybring-Gjedde explains why he became suspicious. She says “something new had always happened”, apparently even when Bertheussen was home alone.

– I felt for my part “oh my God, how strong you are”, but then I thought that it is very strange that you are not afraid of anything, when you have swastikas and labels on your car, he explains.

– We no longer thought it was fun

In addition, she explains that Bertheussen became more and more intense in the cases they spoke about and that she herself participated less and less in the group discussion.

– We also thought it was strange that she had delved so deeply into the mapping of who was behind “Ways of seeing”. We no longer thought it was fun, he explains.

Tybring-Gjedde explains that some of the “nonsense” of the group conversation was a way to vent frustration. But little by little they realized that it was getting more serious for Bertheussen, and they started talking outside the group about it “starting to get a bit too much.”

Another thing Tybring-Gjedde reacted to was that the video in “Ways to See” showed the wrong house, and not the house the couple actually lives in, while the threat letter they received was sent to the correct address. .

The unpleasant thing was that the basis of the Messenger group’s existence was threatened. We were deceived? Tybring-Gjedde asks from the witness stand.

– Here we brought her to the group as an offended person, someone who needed support and comfort, and then maybe it was a game? I was also not reassured that she did not show fear of being alone at home, it seemed more than strange that she was chuckling and that she was much more annoyed by being monitored than by the events.