The following is an excerpt from a program in the series Det skjulte Norge (“The weiled Norway”) on Radio Modum June 21. 2000. Present were Magne Grønlund (MG), Per Amdahl (PA), Irene Mjøseng (IM) and Dag Hiåsen (DH). Irene Mjøseng was the editor of the local newspaper Bygdeposten, but was sacked later the same year. Dag Hiåsen is Fampo’s chairman.
PA: Let us beginn concretely. I have heard from both of you, that you have been visited by helicopters. That sounds exciting.
IM: It sounds very exciting, but it is not, so when it happens.
PA: Tell us a bit in detail, Irene Mjøseng.
IM: We began writing about fampo before Christmas last year. And we presented dag and the organisation and its work. And then, after Christmas, we wrote a new article, where he went into a concrete case at Sunnmøre [Northwestern Norway]. Where it actually is a…are…grandchildren who…it is a grandfather who has received threats that his grandchildren are to be assasinated. And we wrote that in Bygdeposten in the middle of January. And that was when helicopters arrived above my house in Prestfoss.
PA: Yes, what really happened?
IM: Well, what happened was that I was sitting in a chair watching TV after work. And then suddenly I heard that there was helicoptre above the roof. And it is so, that when you are a journalist, you react to that. Because there may have been an accident or such things that we should be aware of. But it turned out that I only heard the sound of it. There were no lights on it or registration or anything. I did not see it at all. I understood very little of it, until I spoke to Dag a couple of days later. At that time, the same helicoptre had been above his roof too, just before I spoke with him.
PA: Yes, how did this happen – did it stay above your roof?
IM: Yes that was plain. It sounded as if it was to land at the roof,
PA: And I know that you have told the same, Dag, that you have experienced precisely the same.
DH: Let me express it shortly this way, that everyone who has begun working in this field, who has begun disclosing conditions in Norway, that do not endure being exposed, everyone has experienced several different episodes. Everyone has gotten their phone tapped. We do not only talk about ordinary tapping. We speak of how telephones have been connected to each other. As an example, when he who is the author of the master thesis at The Norwegian Fishing Academy, University of Tromsø, and with the disclosure of the enormous criminality within the fishing industry, when he only enters the first numbers on his telephone, he is directed to me in Sigdal.
[Laughter] IM: Very practical, does not need to use energy on dialing numbers.
DH: Yes it does, it does. There are some positive aspects to it.
PA: Yes, hm, this is conditions that we will try to return to. But, Irene, when it comes to tapping and interrupted phone calls, have you experienced the same?
IM: Yes, I have, several times.
PA: Tell us a bit concretely about it.
IM: Yes, the first time something concretely happened, was when I was about to dial a 32-number, was about to dial to Krødsherad [neighbouring municipality], and I was directed to Oslo, to a person whom I do not know. And it turned out, there was a display on the telephone, so that you can see that you have dialed the right number afterwards. And it was the right number. But the point was that they had used 22 as a local code, and not 32, you see. And when I haved talked with people whom I know over telephone, about thee issues, I have experienced that the call has been abruptde.
PA: And it has happened more than once.
IM: Yes, this repeats itself.
DH: Let me add, Per, that there are some more persons who have been engaged here. For example Knut Bye in Sigdal. And quite soon we was without telephone. And a lot of other troubles in addition to… PA: Yes, what do you mean by “without telephone”?
DH: Suddenly, he could not call people. And there were noises, and signals that those he called were occupied in a call, and calls were abrupted. And those who call him, get the message that the number is not in use, etc etc.
IM: They do that with me to. A friend of mine called five times and was told that the number was not in use. The sixt time she got through.
PA: Your personal…?
IM: My mobile number. And also she noticed that she had dialed the correct number.
Fampo 