Abid Raja Telephone Foundation – VG

There has been a storm surrounding comedian and public polemicist Shabana Rehman (44) this week, after the government announced Monday night that it would cut support for “Born Free.”

The reason is that the foundation, which is going to “work against negative social control” in immigrant communities, must have used parts of the state support for purposes other than those for which they received support and lack good financial management, according to an Ernst & Young (EY) audit report.

Be skeptical

– I thought carefully when they asked me to form this foundation, because I knew it could be difficult because it is a difficult field. I had experienced it before.

– How was the foundation formed?

– Abid Raja called me, who was then a parliamentary representative. She said the government should allocate funds to an organization that would promote immigrant women’s struggle against social control, and that she wanted me to join.

Rehman says she was invited by Raja and then-Liberal Party leader Trine Skei Grande, along with social polemicist Amal Aden and filmmaker Iram Haq.

The three guests founded the association together, but only Rehman has worked on it. Abid Raja confirms to VG that he was the initiator, but notes that he knows nothing about the subsequent functioning of the foundation.

Read Raja’s full answer at the end of the case.

Was not heard

Rehman describes the E&Y report as urgent work and says the interviews with the auditing firm were like a “Kafka process”, where their response has not been taken into account.

– I didn’t even know the report was finished, and they notified me that you called me from VG. That she received such a serious message through the media was disappointing, but in fact not surprising, Shabana Rehman tells VG.

– I learned about the anonymous whistleblowers against the foundation through a case in Vårt Land, and was later notified about the investigation through a case at NRK, he explains during an interview at the premises of the controversial Vika foundation in Oslo.

Writing seminar held

Rehman explains that the foundation has received 5 million crowns from the state budget for 2018, 6 million last year and 3 million so far this year.

The second part of this year’s allocation, another three million crowns, has been stopped by the allocator of the Integration and Diversity Directorate (IMDi), because the foundation according to the indictment “They used parts of the state aid they received for purposes other than those for which they received support and they lack good financial management.”

– We believe that the report contains a number of errors and that it reproduces our explanations incorrectly and poorly, says Shabana Rehman.

– One of the accusations in the report is that you and Zahid Ali must have spent close to 15,000 kroner on a three-day writing seminar at Son Spa Hotel, and that you must have had a one-day package for the spa facilities. Is that correct?

– Not bad. We chose that hotel because it was right between me and Zahid’s house, and the “day package” listed on the receipt is payment for the conference room, not the spa.

– But did you use the spa?

– No, we weren’t at the spa. I may have bathed in the pool the day after the seminar, but we worked on a script all weekend, and I have come up with scripts, Rehman says.

Rehman has shared both the receipt and a photo of Zahid Ali on a whiteboard with VG.

Relationship: Here’s how the Rehman Foundation used the money

Explain the trip to London

Another part of the report concerns a trip to London with Zahid Ali, where, according to the report, it took place. “It costs a total of NOK 65,348 for a five-day stay … for, among other things, travel, restaurant visits, hotel stays and tickets to the musical Thriller.”

– We were going to work on a new script for Stovnerrevyen, a job Zahid Ali worked for free for a month because we were going to London. We wanted to be inspired by watching, among other things, “Thriller”. The expenses are also for two people, Rehman says.

– This entire trip was also covered with non-governmental funds, so it was not paid with money from IMDi, something that we explained to Ernst & Young and that our auditor can confirm, continues.

– Does the report also indicate that you were at a concert with a-ha on the same trip?

– The concert with a-ha was not planned and cost nothing. Zahid is friends with Magne Furuholmen, who put us on the guest list, Rehman says.

He has shared two photos from that night in London with VG, one showing the two comedians with vocalist Morten Harket and another of Ali and Magne Furuholmen.

That’s why they worked in magazines

Several of the alleged irregularities in the report are related to the work at Stovnerrevyen 2019 and a documentary about the 2020 magazine, which will be released digitally this week.

– Why did two such prominent comedians work with a school magazine and what did that have to do with work against negative social control?

– The Stovner school has many students of immigrant origin who experience precisely negative social control, and it has been a topic in both magazines. Also, the main point was that we made a documentary about the whole process, and that this way the message goes even further.

This documentary is made by Rehman’s private company, Wanted Production Norway. Rehman explains this point by saying that they could not get anyone else to accept the job and that she already had the trust of both the school management and the students who participated.

Boat trip and shopping

Rehman explains that Født Fri received NOK 700,000 in support of Scheibler’s donation for the work on the school magazine, and that the documentary about the magazine received NOK 800,000 in support through grants from Fritt Ord and other donations.

– The main point is that the expenses of both the documentary and the magazine are private sponsors. The money we receive from IMDi has gone to completely different projects.

– But was this difference marked enough in your budgets?

– Yes, it was clearly marked, because we had our own project accounts. Born Free received support from both the public sector and various private actors, and had many different activities. We believe that Ernst & Young has not studied this thoroughly enough.

– Does the report mention a boat trip for more than 40,000 crowns and the purchase of food from the Mr. India restaurant for more than 50,000 crowns?

– The boat trip was a team effort for the students who worked with the school magazine and for the volunteers. It’s true that four members of my family participated, but that was because they worked for the magazine for free, Rehman responds.

– Food shopping sounds violent, but it was many different small purchases, and it was overtime food for employees and volunteers. This has been reported and approved by the auditor, it is not the case that he has dragged the card like crazy.

Get criticized for drone purchases

Rehman explains the purchase of technical equipment for the foundation, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, and an expensive Mac, as necessary equipment for the cultural production the foundation worked with.

She takes self-criticism at one point:

– We shouldn’t buy the drone mentioned by VG for around 10,000 crowns. We were supposed to use it to film a project to bring immigrant women into the wild, but so far it hasn’t been used.

– Have you helped someone who experiences negative social control?

– We have had many different activities that have created a lot of debate, including the aforementioned Stovnerrevyen. Our mandate has always been to work with cultural communication and public illustration.

– I want to work to improve routines, and I regret that we have not been better at that. But I don’t mean to quit this job.

Raja: – Women’s Fight

Abid Raja says that the Liberal Party wanted to help women with minority backgrounds to organize, so that they could take up the fight against negative social control in the best possible way.

Therefore, the Liberal Party parliamentary group agreed to try to negotiate an item in the state budget for 2018 with NOK 5 million for an organization that focused on the struggles for the rights of girls and women with minority backgrounds.

– After a few internal rounds, I took on the responsibility of contacting women with minority backgrounds who have been at the forefront of the fight against negative social control, and Shabana is undoubtedly one of them, Raja tells VG.

– One of the lessons of the Norwegian women’s struggle is that it is important to be united, to organize. So, in the Liberal Party we would gather more with the same good intentions. If what is coming to light is true, then of course it is disappointing for everyone. But it is a question of follow-up of those who have managed the grant, that is, IMDi.