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In the wake of Dagbladet’s revelation that staff from the Saudi embassy in Oslo showed up at the Bergen International Literature Festival to threaten a Saudi artist with silencing, much of Kultur-Norge has come together to make a joint appeal to Justice Minister Monica Mæland and Culture Minister Abid Raja. .
“We ask Justice Minister Monica Mæland and Culture Minister Abid Raja to assure us that this artist is now safe and in a safe environment.
In addition, we ask ministers to condemn the activities of foreign powers on Norwegian soil seeking to undermine, neutralize or eliminate political opposition and art.
We ask ministers to make sure that all artists visiting Norway can feel safe. It is especially important that critics of the regime can visit Norway and meet a Norwegian audience without fearing for their own safety ”, is the call for the appeal, which is signed by 16 cultural institutions in Norway.
– Saudi Arabia scares an artist in Bergen.
Silence of the ministers
The initiative comes from the Norwegian Writers Association, the Norwegian PEN and the Norwegian non-fiction writers and translators association, where several of the members were also present at the Bergen festival where the Saudi artist was threatened.
But at the government premises, neither Mæland nor Raja want to answer Kultur-Norge’s call.
– The case concerns the behavior of foreign diplomats in Norway, a field for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible. Therefore, the investigation should be directed there, despite the fact that the appeal is not directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, responds the press officer of the Ministry of Justice in an email to Dagbladet.
He sent ten mysterious men to Norway
The press officer of the Ministry of Culture responds with exactly the same wording.
– Disappointing
The ministers’ responses disappoint the initiators of the appeal.
– I am disappointed, and I think it is very, very scary if it is the case that our guests or conference participants cannot feel safe in our country, Norwegian PEN Secretary General Hege Newth tells Dagbladet.
DRAWER: Secretary General Hege Newth of Norwegian PEN. Photo: Kine Jensen
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Newth thinks it’s strange that ministers only pass the buck to the Foreign Ministry since embassy staff are involved.
– We are a huge human rights and democratic problem in Norway if we cannot guarantee that artists will be safe in Norway. This also applies to artists from other countries who are here, says Newth.
The chairman of the board of the Norwegian Writers Association also criticizes the fact that Mæland and Raja do not want to comply with the appeal:
CRITICAL: The chairwoman of the board of the Norwegian Writers Association, Heidi Marie Kriznik, believes that both Mæland and Raja should be clear in their condemnation of the Saudi operation during the Bergen literature festival. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB
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– It amazes me that they cannot say anything, and if they believe that it is the Minister of Foreign Affairs who should respond, it would be good for the ministers to follow our call by speaking with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But in any case, I think that the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Culture should be able to condemn what happened at the literature festival in Bergen and thus condemn the activities on Norwegian soil that try to eliminate political opposition and art, writes Heidi Marie Kriznik in an email to Dagbladet.
