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Oslo court fines two evangelists for disobeying police

A trial court in Oslo, Norway has found two Christian missionaries guilty of failing to obey the police, media reports indicate. They face heavy fines but not imprisonment, reports MNN.

Evangelists Petar Keseljevic of Norway and Larry Keffer of the Biblical Research Center in Tampa, FL were sharing the Gospel at a parade celebrating the anniversary of Norway's constitution on May 17.

They were conversing with members of the crowd beyond the parade lines when the police arrested them and held them for almost four hours. Some members of the crowd had complained about the evangelists' actions.

Keffer and Keseljevic had responded to earlier police requests that they move away from the Palace of the King, refrain from using a megaphone, and take their message anywhere else along the route out of sight of the King.

The International Human Rights Group is working with Norwegian attorneys to defend the two evangelists. They plan to appeal the ruling as soon as it is translated into English and take the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, if necessary.

"The court issued a written opinion, which I am waiting on in English from the court, that the police law has to be obeyed because the police were trying to keep the peace," IHRG President Joel Thornton told LifeSite News. "The Norwegians have a police law that is absolute, meaning that there is no discretion when you are participating in a legitimate activity and the police ask you to leave. You must obey the police at any cost, and the courts will not be moved by your right to freedom of expression or religion."

Thornton also explained the potential implications of the ruling.

"If this decision is upheld it will, in effect, mean that Articles 9, freedom of religion, and Article 10, freedom of expression, of the European Convention on Human Rights are only valid if the police in Norway approve of your speech," Thornton continued. "Otherwise they can arrest you at any time and stop your speech."

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[07/17/2008]

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