Robert (83) knocked – TV 2 employee charged

A TV 2 employee in his 40s from southern Norway must appear in court in Longyearbyen in mid-June, where he must answer for a comprehensive indictment. The most serious point is violence against Robert Hermansen (83), a prominent industry leader and former mining manager on Svalbard.

Dagbladet has been in contact with the accused, his lawyer Oscar Bjøntegaard Wisting at the law firm Elden and insulted Hermansen. None of them want to comment, and it is unclear how the man in his 40s responds to the serious indictment.

TV 2, for its part, confirms that they are familiar with the indictment, but do not want to comment on the criminal case. They state that the man is still employed by the company.

• Svalbardposten and Northern Lights has previously mentioned the indictment. Read the comment from TV 2 further down in the article

Threats in English

The indictment from the Public Prosecutors in Troms and Finnmark describes something reminiscent of a pure berserker walk in Longyearbyen on the night of Saturday 13 November last year. In the 05-time, Hermansen is said to have been pushed over the end of the floor and / or against walls. The older man is also said to have been beaten so that he began to bleed from his mouth.

After that, the TV 2 employee is said to have picked up speed and run on or pushed the top of the industry so that he fell down a flight of stairs. He is also said to have repeatedly held the then 82-year-old Hermansen in a firm grip, and threatened him in English, even though he has Norwegian as his mother tongue:

“You must die, come here, I must kill you, come again,” he is said to have said, according to the indictment.

In the end, the older man got away and locked himself in his own apartment, write Troms and Finnmark public prosecutors’ offices.

“The incident resulted in Hermansen suffering severe pain in the mouth, chest, knees, hips and buttocks as well as skin abrasions, bruises and minor wounds,” the prosecution states.

Water leakage

But according to the indictment, it did not stop there: The man is also said to have fought with another resident and made significant noise in the residential house, as well as entered an unlocked apartment and frightened people.

During the same period, the TV employee must have done significant damage to the building itself, which belongs to the construction company LNS. Among other things, according to the indictment, he tore down two radiators so that roofing sheets and pipes were damaged and a water leak occurred.

The police were notified of the disturbance and moved to the scene. But according to the indictment, the man in his 40s continued to create difficulties – among other things, he allegedly hit a female chancellor with a fist in the chest, and told her that “death can come when you least expect it” or similar.

In the police car, the TV 2 employee is also said to have said that he was a terrorist and “could kill many hundreds of people in a short time”. According to the indictment, he kicked the same police officer in the leg on his way into custody.

– At work

TV 2’s organization and communications director Sarah Willand informs Dagbladet that the company has been made aware of the case, and that an indictment has now been issued.

– We are not a party to the criminal case, and have no comment on this. As an employer, we have treated this as a personnel case, completely independent of the fact that it is now a criminal case. We ask for understanding that we can not say anything more about the personnel matter itself, Willand writes in an SMS to Dagbladet.

According to Svalbardposten, the accused man has been at work since the incident. TV 2 will neither confirm nor deny this.

– He is employed by TV 2. If and when he has been at work is a personnel matter, writes organization and communications director Willand.

The case is scheduled for one day in North Troms and Senja District Court, for the occasion moved to Radisson Blu Polar Hotel Spitsbergen.

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