2023-07-05 02:22:30
Norwegian MP and Red Party leader Bjørnar Moxnes was caught stealing sunglasses at Oslo airport, Gardermoen, in June. At first, Moxnes admitted the mistake and justified himself by saying that he had forgotten that he had the glasses in his luggage outside the store, but then he changed his story several times. The “VG” newspaper published a surveillance video showing the leftist deputy stealing the glasses from the Hugo Boss store.
Last week, the Norwegian regional newspaper “Romerike’s Blade” reported that Moxnes had been caught stealing a pair of sunglasses at Oslo airport in June. As a result, he was fined 3,000 kroner for the incident and Norwegian Police confirmed that he had received a report, as well as photos and videos of the crime.
Initially, Moxnes claimed that he had mistakenly taken Hugo Boss glasses, which retailed for 1,119 kroner, out of the store and that an employee asked him to return them. But he later changed his story and stated that he discovered that he had the glasses in his pocket after he and his girlfriend left the store to go get something to eat. The politician said that instead of going back to the store, he tore off the price tag and put the glasses in his luggage, fearing what would happen.
“What crossed my mind was that I was terrified that I could cause damage to the party by going back and saying that I had brought the glasses without paying for them and that it could become a serious matter,” Moxnes told reporters on Saturday.
Prosecutor Ole-Martin Gurandsrud told public broadcaster NRK that police believe, based on statements and video evidence, that Moxnes acted with intent.
On Monday evening, the Norwegian newspaper “VG” published a CCTV video of the store that reproduces the incident. The images show Moxnes and his girlfriend inside the store.
In the recording, he is seen displaying the glasses again before placing them on top of his luggage cart. The video then shows him putting the glasses in his jacket pocket and walking out of the store.
The Red Party, which has 8 of the 169 deputies of the “Storting” (Parliament), has announced that Moxnes wants the surveillance and photos of the event to be published for the sake of transparency.
The leader of the formation is currently on sick leave, and on Monday the party, the furthest to the left in Norwegian politics and with communist roots, held an extraordinary meeting of the national board to address the incident. The interim leader while Moxnes is out, Marie Sneve Martinussen, told reporters that the party had expressed full confidence in Moxnes.
Despite this, analysts believe Moxnes could have a hard time keeping his job. “I don’t know, but for the voters to forgive, Moxnes must present such a good explanation that the course of events does not seem unclear. It still is,” electoral researcher Johannes Bergh told the digital newspaper. “The online newspaper”.
The expert believes that two factors would make his position untenable: “if there is new information that exacerbates the sunglasses story, it will be absolutely devastating and impossible to continue. He also cannot tolerate a new scandal emerging.” Bergh believes that the leader of the Red Party should prepare for a long storm.
The matter has caused a huge uproar on social networks that has placed Moxnes in a difficult situation. While party colleagues still trust his leader, there has been a lot of negative comment about him on social media. “What else has he stolen? Never in the world if you steal like that there in a place as guarded as the airport if you haven’t done it before. There’s probably more stuff with and without price tags in that guy’s house in Nordstrand than the Gardermoen lost and found office,” writes one user.
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