Hans Sverre Sjøvold resigned as Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) chief with immediate effect, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management reports.
Sjøvold took the initiative to inform the Ministry that he wanted to resign on his own, the government wrote in a press release on Thursday afternoon.
“The service needs a chief who has his full and complete attention directed towards solving a very important social mission and, in that way, have the community’s trust. This is more important than ever in the security situation we are now in. There has been a lot of negative attention directed at my person in recent weeks. Consideration for PST’s trust in society and reputation must come first,” Sjøvold stated in the press release.
Sjøvold resigns with immediate effect, according to the government. Roger Berg will be acting PST chief until a new chief is in place. Minister of Justice and Emergency Management Emilie Enger Mehl believes Sjøvold’s decision is wise.
“Sjøvold has today asked to resign as PST chief. I respect Sjøvold’s decision and think it is wise,” Mehl said.
Kept weapons illegally
Sjøvold kept weapons illegally when he was chief of police in Oslo.
The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs (Spesialenheten for politisaker) started the investigation into the case in November after the newspaper VG revealed that Sjøvold had three firearms for several years without registering them.
Sjøvold himself explained that he received the weapons from a widow in Vestfold after her husband – a friend of Sjøvold – died in 2008.
“The widow came to me and wondered if I could take care of those weapons, and I did. And then they were probably there for a while,” Sjøvold told VG in 2019 when the case became known.
Security clearance
The case resulted in a fine of NOK 50,000 but did not have any consequences on Sjøvold’s authorization or security clearance.
Earlier this week, a joint Control Committee in the Norwegian parliament (Storting) asked the Minister of Justice to explain how Sjøvold can have a security clearance in the context of VG’s revelations.
“The questions are sent to the government and the Minister of Justice from a unified Committee,” Grunde Almeland (V) told the newspaper.
As recently as a month ago, Minister of Justice Mehl stated that she had confidence in Sjøvold.
Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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