Norwegian police drop hate speech investigation against Progress Party adviser

Norwegian prosecutors have dropped a hate speech investigation into Hårek Hansen, a former adviser to the Progress Party (FrP), concluding his recorded remarks about Pakistanis did not meet the legal threshold for public incitement, Dagbladet reports.

The National Competence Centre for Hate Crime at Oslo Police District announced the decision Friday, stating Hansen’s comments—made during a bar conversation with undercover TV 2 journalists—were not directed at individuals and were “difficult for others in the room to hear” due to background noise and Hansen’s slurred speech.

“The statements were not made to a person directly affected by the utterance—in this case, someone of Pakistani or Norwegian-Pakistani background,” said police prosecutor Karianne Worren. She added that while the bar is a public venue, the law exempts private conversations unless easily overheard, which investigators determined was not the case here.

In the leaked recording, published last weekend, Hansen referred to Pakistanis as “minus variants” and suggested they should not have children in Norway. He later claimed the remarks were “meant as humour and childish provocation,” influenced by alcohol, and called them “vulgar, stupid drunken talk” he deeply regretted.

The Progress Party confirmed Thursday that Hansen had been dismissed from his role as adviser to MP Simen Velle and expelled from the party. Police stressed that while the comments were offensive, they did not satisfy the criminal code’s criteria for public hate speech.

Under Norwegian law, hateful expressions must be made publicly—either in a forum accessible to many or directed at an individual—to constitute a punishable offence. The investigation found Hansen’s remarks failed to meet either condition.