Tor Mikkel Wara

Tor Mikkel Wara
Tor Mikkel Wara
Minister of Justice, Public Security and Immigration
	In office; 4 April 2018 – 29 March 2019
Prime Minister	Erna Solberg
Preceded by	Sylvi Listhaug
Succeeded by	Jøran Kallmyr
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
	In office; 23 October 1989 – 30 September 1993
Constituency	Oslo
First Deputy Leader of the Progress Party
	In office; 3 May 1991 – 23 April 1993
Leader	Carl I. Hagen
Preceded by	Pål Atle Skjervengen
Succeeded by	Ellen Wibe
Personal details
Born	27 December 1964; Karasjok, Finnmark, Norway
Political party	Progress
Domestic partner	Laila Anita Bertheussen

Tor Mikkel Wara (born 27 December 1964) is a Norwegian politician from the Progress Party, who has served as Justice and Immigration Minister of Norway from April 2018 to 2019 after the resignation of Sylvi Listhaug.

Wara was born in Karasjok, and was a member of the Oslo municipality council between 1987 and 1989.[1] During the same period he was the chairman of the Youth of the Progress Party, and became known as a young rising star within the party.[2] He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament for the Progress Party from Oslo in 1989, and became vice chairman of the party in 1991.[1]

In 1993 he however left the Progress Party and quit active politics. While he was one of the main players of the young libertarians within the party in the early 1990s, he was contrary to popular belief not part of the "Dolkesjø" incident in 1994, having left the party the year before.[2]

As the leadership of the Progress Party in 2006 changed hands from Carl I. Hagen to Siv Jensen, Wara was before the 2009 election spoken of as a possible Minister of Finance for the party in an eventual government, with the recent broad popular support for the party.[3]

In 2018, he was appointed Minister of Justice by Erna Solberg.

Harassment campaign

In November 2018, a photo of Wara's private residence was used on stage for political commentary in the play Ways of Seeing, a production of the Black Box theatre in Oslo. Wara's long-term live-in partner Laila Anita Bertheussen along with Prime Minister Erna Solberg sharply criticized the production for exposing the Wara household in this manner, and in December 2018, Bertheussen filed a formal complaint against the theatre.[4]

Over the following months, the family received threatening letters and their house was vandalized with graffiti, before the apparent harassment culminated on March 10, 2019 with an arson attack on their car. However, four days later, Bertheussen was arrested on suspicion of having staged the entire harassment campaign herself, prompting Wara to resign his position on March 28.[5][6]

The trial is due to conclude on November 13, 2020. Accused of endangering democracy, Bertheussen potentially faced up to 16 years in prison.[4] On January 15, 2021 she was sentenced to one year and eight months prison for three of four charges. [7]

References

"Tor Mikkel Wara" (in Norwegian). Storting.
Garvik, Olav (25 March 2006). "Wara inn i varmen igjen i Frp". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 August 2007.
Johansen, Marianne; Johnsrud, Ingar; Nielsen, Andreas (25 May 2009). "Kvinneknipe for Siv i Frp-regjering". VG Nett.
Henley, Jon (2020-09-08). "Norway gripped as ex-minister's partner goes on trial over 'staged attacks'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
Mogen, Trym (2019-09-20). "Skjebnedager: Dette kan dommene bety" [Days of reckoning: This is what the court decisions may mean]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
"Norway's justice minister resigns after faked threats". Agence France-Presse. 2019-03-29. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30.
"Laila anita berhteussen dømt for angrep på demokratiet (in Norwegian)". Vg.no. January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.

Political offices
Preceded by Pål Atle Skjervengen	Chairman of the Youth of the Progress Party 1987–1989	Succeeded by Jan Erik Fåne
Preceded by Pål Atle Skjervengen	First Deputy Leader of the Progress Party 1991–1993	Succeeded by Ellen Wibe
Preceded by Sylvi Listhaug	Minister of Justice 2018–2019	Succeeded by Jøran Kallmyr

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[stor-1] "Tor Mikkel Wara" (in Norwegian). Storting.

[bt07-2] Garvik, Olav (25 March 2006). "Wara inn i varmen igjen i Frp". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 August 2007.

[3] Johansen, Marianne; Johnsrud, Ingar; Nielsen, Andreas (25 May 2009). "Kvinneknipe for Siv i Frp-regjering". VG Nett.

[henley2020-4] Henley, Jon (2020-09-08). "Norway gripped as ex-minister's partner goes on trial over 'staged attacks'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-09-08.

[5] Mogen, Trym (2019-09-20). "Skjebnedager: Dette kan dommene bety" [Days of reckoning: This is what the court decisions may mean]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-08.

[6] "Norway's justice minister resigns after faked threats". Agence France-Presse. 2019-03-29. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30.

[7] "Laila anita berhteussen dømt for angrep på demokratiet (in Norwegian)". Vg.no. January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.