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Woman injured in Oslo mass brawl: report

Up to 30 men were involved in a fight on in central Oslo on Tuesday night, police have confirmed.

Published: 27 June 2018 16:13 CEST

Woman injured in Oslo mass brawl: report

A file photo of Youngstorget in Oslo. Photo: Audun Braastad / NTB scanpix

The brawl took place at the Youngstorget square in the Norwegian capital and a machete and other weapons may have been used in the fight, VG reports.

Around 30 people thought be in their twenties and thirties are reported to have attacked each other with various objects.

“We received the first report at around five minutes before 1am of a so-called mass brawl. There was a large group of men described as men with African backgrounds reported to be fighting. A machete was mentioned but we have not found that so far. Most appear to have used iron rods, wooden planks and bottles,” police response leader Tor Jøkling told VG.

Jøkling added that people involved in the fight dispersed in all directions when police arrived at the scene but three individuals have so far been apprehended.

Shortly after, police were informed of an injured woman at a bar in nearby Torggata.

The woman was reported to be bleeding and close to fainting.

“We have received confirmation that there was a guest at a nightclub who was inadvertently hit in the head by an object that was thrown. An ambulance is seeing to her and she is in good care. We are treating this as related to the fight and are working on finding those responsible for this,” Jøkling told VG.

Police are currently looking for witnesses and persons who may have been involved in the incident.

“We must stress that there were so many people involved that it is a challenge for our patrols to get an immediate overview,” Jøkling continued.

Three people had however been detained in connection with the incident by 2:21 am, police said, and Jøkling later confirmed that one of these was a primary suspect in relation to the incident.

READ ALSO: Police search for gunman after shots fired at bar in Oslo

Norway's ex-biathlon boss jailed for three years for corruption

Norwegian Anders Besseberg, the 78-year-old head of the International Biathlon Union from 1993 to 2018, was found guilty of nine of 10 counts of aggravated corruption during the period 2009-2018, charges he denied.

“I am of course disappointed and surprised about the verdict and some of the judges’ reasoning. I am appealing on the spot,” Besseberg told the court after the judge read out the 67-page verdict over the course of almost three hours.

“The defendant breached the trust that came with his position at the IBU by accepting the benefits,” judge Vidar Toftoy-Lohne at the Buskerud district court said.

The prosecution hailed the verdict.

“There is a lot of money in circulation in international elite sport. The federations manage substantial financial assets and make decisions that are important for both athletes and the business community,” prosecutor Marianne Djupesland said in a statement.

“We hope this verdict can contribute to raising awareness and that it will have a preventive effect,” she said.

Prosecutors had sought a jail term of three years and seven months and a fine of one million kroner ($95,000).

The court did not hand down a fine, but ordered Besseberg to return gifts amounting to 1.4 million kroner.

Besseberg admitted accepting gifts but dismissed the notion that corruption was involved.

“Even if I received expensive gifts and was invited by many to go hunting, I must stress that I never let myself be corrupted,” he told the court during his trial, media reported.

Russian shadow

As head of the IBU when the Russian doping scandal exploded in the 2010s, Besseberg was accused of initially hiding cases of Russian doping in his sport in exchange for favours.

Prosecutors dropped that line of attack, but in Norway, receiving improper favours, even if no services are provided in exchange, is enough to constitute corruption.

Russia’s shadow nonetheless hung heavily over the case.

According to an inquiry launched by Sweden’s Olle Dahlin, who succeeded Besseberg as head of the IBU, Besseberg pushed to hold the 2021 biathlon world championships in Tyumen, Siberia, despite the Russian doping scandals.

The contest was eventually awarded to Pokljuka in Slovenia.

Prosecutors argued that Besseberg went on fully paid hunting trips in Austria and in the Czech Republic, and for seven years drove a leased BMW X5, all paid for by Infront, a marketing company that held television rights to the sport.

They argued he was given three watches worth a total of more than 30,000 euros ($33,000), invited on trips to hunt deer and wild boar, and offered services from sex workers, all paid for by Russian officials.

Asked about an Omega watch worth more than 17,000 euros he received in 2011 for his 65th birthday, he said: “I did not think it was undeserved.”

The court said two of the three watches he received constituted corruption.

Besseberg also denied any contact with sex workers, acknowledging only what he said was a consensual affair with a 42-year-old Russian.

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