Norway Shooting Death Toll Drops Dramatically

Brundtland, who led three Labour Party governments in the 1980s and 1990s and is often called "mother of the nation", gave a speech on the island the day of the slaughter and left before Anders Behring Breivik arrived.

"Anders Behring Breivik had plans to come to Utoeya (island) while Gro Harlem Brundtland was visiting on Friday, but claims under interrogation that he was delayed," Aftenposten reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The newspaper said the 32-year-old right-wing fanatic wanted to "hit Gro".

Brundtland, a Harvard-educated physician, has been a champion of social democratic policy approaches worldwide, and served as president of the World Health Organisation from 1998 to 2003.The report said Breivik made the remarks under questioning by police in advance of a court hearing on Monday.

At a 35-minute hearing remand hearing in Oslo, Breivik said the point of his attack had been to stop future recruitment to the Labour Party.

Judge Kim Heger read a statement to reporters where he summarised Breivik's claims. He said: "The object of the attacks was to give a sharp signal to people. The accused acted to induce the greatest possible loss to the Labour Party so that for the future it will limit new recruitment.

"The Labour Party has failed the country and the people and price of their treason is what they had to pay yesterday.

Police have lowered the death toll of last Friday's shootings from 93 to 76, reports the Associated Press. A reduction was expected as police collected more details about missing persons after Anders Behring Breivik's mass shooting on Utoeya island. Breivik was arraigned in a district court in Oslo Monday afternoon, where he admitted that the attack was meant to stop Labour Party recruitment in Norway and claimed that two more terrorist cells existed. After admitting that Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland was the target of the attacks, Breivak pleaded not guilty of terrorism charges and will be detained for eight weeks before the trial starts. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 21 years in prison--or 113 days per murder

Police misconduct in Norway

Police misconduct has become an issue of high media attention in Norway. The death of Eugene Ejike Obiora, a naturalized Norwegian of Nigerian origin in September 2006 stirred an uproar that as of September 2007 has caused the authorities to announce significant changes to the way charges of police brutality and other forms of police misconduct, including corruption, involving the Norwegian police will be handled in the future.

Statistics on police misconduct

The Special Unit for Police Affairs was established on January 1, 2005. In 2006 the unit received 904 complaints, of which 101 led to indictment. Of these 26 ended with the issuance of a fine. In 8 cases criminal charges were brought, in 64 decision was made to prosecute, and 3 cases were given "påtaleunnlatelse" (decision not to try the case despite a conclusion that a punishable offense has taken place). Four police officers alone were responsible for 63 of the 101 cases.

Noted cases

One officer employed in Oslo Police District, one of the four mentioned, was sentenced in 2006 to two years in prison for human trafficking, embezzlement of money and weapons, as well as theft of emergency passports.

Two cases were from Follo Police District (immediately south of Oslo). One officer was accused of having felt up a number of women during interrogations. He was acquitted on almost all charges by the regional court. Another officer had been accused of abuse of power during an arrest. This case is now receiving a subject to renewed trial in the regional court, ordered by the Supreme Court, after an initial acquittal at the lower court was appealed.

The fourth case involves a female officer from Telemark Police District who was issued a fine of 10.000 kroner and the loss of her employment for a period of five years for embezzlement and breach of confidentiality, among other issues.

In late June 2007 the Oslo daily newspaper Dagsavisen published an overview of police cases with a deadly outcome. The presentation showed the investigation into ten of the most serious cases which were concluded after the establishment of the Special Unit for Police Affairs on January 1, 2005. In all 10 cases, all charges against the police were eventually dropped.

In recent years, several police officers have been noted to be instrumental, on some occasions aware and intending, in several cases of miscarriage of justice. In the most prominent case, the one in the case against Fritz Moen, several officers appear to have manipulated timelines, threatened the accused and witnesses and made false statements in the intent to close the case. Several cases appear to have the same characteristics.

Police internal affairs investigations on the Internet

In mid-September 2007, the leader of the Special Unit for Police Affairs, Jan Egil Presthus, stated to the Oslo daily Dagsavisen that all investigations into police conduct in cases that have ended in deaths are going to be posted on the Internet. He states that total openness in this way will strengthen the publics confidence in the unit's integrity and ability to conduct its investigations impartially. This came following Dagsavisen's listing in June of police cases with a deadly result.

A buzzing media discourse focusing on deaths incurred during police arrests and transports continued in Norway throughout 2007, and Presthus counts this as one factor triggering the initiative to publish ongoing investigations on the Internet. The cases will be presented on the web pages of the Special Unit for Police Affairs, and they will be presented in a way that preserves the anonymity of officers that are involved, and also other parties in cases where that is considered necessary with respects to protection of privacy.

Top police leadership confirms significant changes will take place

As a direct consequence of the Obiora case, training at the Norwegian Police Academy has undergone changes and national police director Ingelin Killengreen has instigated a thorough review of police methods in general.

Norway police want UK crime technician aid

Reporting from Oslo — Norwegians have always taken pride in their open, trusting society.

It's a country where you might encounter the prime minister at the grocery store and offer a hug. Many police don't carry guns and most government buildings are unprotected. Homicide is rare, with only a handful of gun-related deaths a year.

But as Otto Lovik stood Sunday on a muddy lakeshore overlooking Utoya Island and recalled how he rescued about 60 people fleeing Friday's massacre by a gunman, the 56-year-old prison guard, still shaking from the experience, said his country must change.

Norwegian police said Sunday that a British police expert was aiding a probe of attacks that killed at least 93 people as part of cooperation with foreign forces.

"We have received help from the Metropolitan police in London by a criminal technician expert," acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference. He said that Norwegian police were also sending out information via Interpol.

Sponheim also said that a police officer had been due to be on the island where the gunman massacred at least 86 people. It took about an hour for police to arrive.

"There was supposed to be a police officer there," he said, adding that it was unclear where he was.