Couple won’t pay fine for sex on stage
https://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article824743.ece
The environmental activists who claim they had sex on stage at a live music festival in Norway this week to help protect the world’s rain forests say they won’t pay fines doled out by police. That means the case will likely head for court.
Leona Johanson and Tommy Hol Ellingsen (right) are challenging a fine for having sex on stage during a music festival.
PHOTO: ANDERS MARTINSEN
Leona Johansson and Tommy Holm Ellingsen after leaving the police station in Kristiansand, fully clothed.
PHOTO: CHRISTIAN ALTMANN
“We’d rather go to jail than accept a fine,” claimed Tommy Holm Ellingsen, who had sex with partner Leona Johansson before an audience of thousands at the Quart Festival in Kristiansand on Tuesday. The stunt, which concert organizers claim came as a complete surprise, has set off shockwaves, even in liberal Norway.
Both Ellingsen and Johansson were called in for police questioning on Wednesday and later slapped with fines of NOK 10,000 (about USD 1,400) each for violating statutes dealing with public decency.
Ellingsen claims the couple performed the surprise sex stunt during a set by the controversial band The Cumshots “actually to draw attention to the rain forests, which are in the process of disappearing.”
The couple also runs a porno web site called “Fuck for Forest,” which offers pornographic photos for money that they claim they donate to rain forest preservation groups. ” We’re idealists, call us ‘environmental radicals,'” Ellingsen said. “Porn is just a means of reaching our goals.”
The case now seems bound for court, since the couple is appealing their fines. Police also fined all five band members of The Cumshots the same amount, but it remained unclear whether they’d be accepted or appealed.
Festival organizers, who claim they knew nothing of the planned sex stunt, have avoided any punitive action so far. Festival chief Toffen Gunnufsen said he was irritated that he had to use so much time dealing with the matter.
“This is a music festival with more than a hundred concerts,” he said. “That’s where the focus should be.” Among the headliners are Alicia Keys and Morrisey.