Several reports of hate crimes after the Pride parade

Pride parade in Oslo SaturdayPride parade in Oslo .Photo: Norway Today Media

Police are investigating four reports of hate crimes in connection to the Pride parade in Oslo on Saturday.

 

General Secretary of Skeiv Verden (Queer World), Susanne Øvergaard, reported an incident that occurred the night before the parade.


She said that three men shouted ‘damn homses’ (damn faggots) at her and a couple of friends as they decorated the parade car. One of the men was threatening toward Øvergaard, and when she called the police, he allegedly reacted by pushing her up against a wall and threatened her with rape.

Dagsavisen newspaper also talked to Ahmed Umar, who had been knocked down on the way home from the parade by a gang of boys, and Haydar Mahdi, who had a coffee pot thrown at him as he and a friend were on their way to the parade.


Police commissioner Monica Lillebakken, of the hate crime division of Oslo Police said that they’d received four reports related to hate crime in connection with the Pride parade. She told Dagsavisen that one hate crime is one too many.


‘We are seriously concerened about the issues we have learned about, and they are being prioritised. No one should be subjected to criminal offenses on the basis of who they are,’ said Lillebakken.

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today