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During the night, someone has hung two cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on the windows of the Bergen mosque. The president of the council puts it in context with the situation in France.
The drawings were removed by the police on Friday morning. Photo: Tuva Åserud
– We are not France, we are in a completely different situation in Norway. It has never happened that someone of Muslim origin has done something against Norway, says board chairman and director Badreddine Maizi at the Bergen mosque on Friday morning.
He then notified the police and was on his way to file a report.
The drawings were discovered shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday, when members of the mosque gathered for morning prayer. There were two drawings pasted on two of the windows of the mosque. Maizi contacted the police, who requested that the drawings be posted in order to secure the prints.
Invitation to provocation
Badreddine Maizi, Chairman of the Board and Superintendent of the Bergen Mosque Photo: Eirik Brekke
– This is a direct invitation to the Muslims of Bergen to provoke themselves. But we must not allow ourselves to be provoked. We want dialogue, says Maizi.
The police confirm to BT that they are familiar with the situation and that they have been to the Bergen mosque to secure the prints and remove the drawings. Friday afternoon is Friday prayer, and many are waiting for the mosque. For Maizi, it was important that the drawings were removed before members could see them.
The case has been reported to the police.
President Maizi is convinced that the incident tonight is related to what is happening in France. Two weeks ago, the teacher Samuel Paty was assassinated after he showed cartoons in teaching. On Thursday, Nice experienced a terrorist attack when one person killed three people at the Notre-Dame church in Nice.
The mosque received a letter
The incident that night at the Bergen mosque is the second episode in a short time. Just over a week ago, the mosque received a letter from an unknown sender.
– Islam was said to be a fascism of the worst kind. I have not reported this, but I will find out and take it to the police, says Maizi.
Badreddine Maizi is concerned that members of the mosque will not be provoked by what happened. In several Norwegian cities, cartoons of Muhammad have been posted after the murder of Samuel Paty. The purpose must have been to defend freedom of expression.
– We have spoken with all the mosques in western Norway and we agree not to be provoked, says Maizi.
There are surveillance cameras in the area where one of the drawings hung. Baddredine Maizi hopes the photos can show the perpetrator.
– If they have not covered their faces, it will be possible, he says.
The head of the joint operational service unit, Morten Ørn, will not say whether the police do anything about Friday’s prayer. He says the police are in dialogue with the mosque after the drawings were posted.
– What happened last night makes you uncomfortable, and we worry that they don’t worry, says Ørn.
