Humor Defeating the Law about Conscientious Objectors
INSPIRATIONAL, 17 Aug 2015
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service
When Jorgen Johansen from Norway (born 1956) was 18, he received a letter requesting that he join the army. He wrote back that he would not do so, as a conscientious objector to military service. He was convinced that nonviolent methods were more effective in dealing with conflicts. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, the standard Norwegian punishment at that time for refusing military service. Before he went to prison, he received a call from his friend, a lawyer who had helped defend him, telling him that he also faced a trial for refusing military service, asking Jorgen for help. Jorgen said, “I am not a lawyer, can’t you defend yourself?” His friend said, “I don’t want you to defend me, but to accuse me!” He asked Jorgen to call the real prosecutor on the morning of the scheduled court appearance. Jorgen identified himself as a clerk of the court and said that due to illness of the defendant, the trial had been postponed by two weeks. Therefore, the prosecutor stayed home.
Jorgen went to the prosecutor’s office and took one of several black robes that were hanging on the wall. He wore it, put on a tie and went to the court, identifying himself as the prosecutor to the judge. The judge said, “I have never seen you here before.” Jorgen replied, “Yes, I am quite new.”Jorgen took a very harsh position and argued, “Your honor, when even lawyers, who should be well familiar with the law, break it, the punishment should be at least doubled. I request that this lawyer be sentenced to 32 months in prison.” The courtroom was packed with their friends, two of them with hidden cameras, who recorded the entire process. During the entire 4‑hour trial, nobody realized that Jorgen was not the real prosecutor. A week later, they told that story to the media. At first, nobody believed it, but when they were shown the video-recording, journalists found it hard to stop laughing. The Norwegian national television network bought the video and showed it. Throughout the country, people were laughing at the repressive system. Jorgen had suddenly access to the media, all papers wanted to interview him.
Then he was accused of impersonation and disrespect for the court, an offense that carries a minimum sentence of three months in prison. Six months later, the case was dropped due to “lack of evidence.” It was simply too embarrassing for the government. They did not want more laughter. Jorgen wrote a written confession and appealed the decision. When the government refused to convict him, he broke into prison! It is difficult to break out of prison, but to climb the outside wall with a ladder and descend inside with ropes is relatively easy. Twelve climbed into the prison, where two of their friends were serving a sentence as conscientious objectors. Newspapers, radio and television were alerted in advance.
When the twelve jumped over the wall, the alarm bells rang, and guards with dogs came running, thinking it was an attempted escape. When they realized that they were climbing inside the prison, the guards got confused. Jorgen and his friends demanded to receive the same sentence as their two friends in prison, because they all held the same beliefs that the use of violence was wrong. They demanded to speak with the prison director, who came after one hour. He explained, “We are sorry, we cannot accept you because the prison is full.” They offered, “We can share rooms.” The director accepted their request to hold a press conference inside the prison. The twelve refused to leave. After four hours, they were carried out of prison by the police and charged with illegal entry. Everyone was laughing. The case was dropped again for “lack of evidence.” They appealed and showed the pictures to the police. The court was helpless; there was no possible sentence to threaten them with, because they had asked for imprisonment! They had turned the system upside down. Two years later, the law was changed. Instead of 16 months in prison, conscientious objectors now receive only two to three months. Using humor around serious political questions is a very efficient tool that is used too by social movements. It would be dangerous to use that approach in countries like Colombia today, but in many countries it is still possible. Besides, humor is always an important ingredient in good political action, because people enjoy it and it captures their attention.
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Dietrich Fischer, born in 1941 in Münsingen, Switzerland, got a Licentiate in Mathematics from the University of Bern 1968 and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University 1976. 1986-88 he was a MacArthur Fellow in International Peace and Security at Princeton University. He has taught mathematics, computer science, economics and peace studies at various universities and been a consultant to the United Nations.
Excerpted from Dietrich Fischer’s Stories to Inspire You – TRANSCEND University Press-TUP.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 17 Aug 2015.
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