After repeated attempts, we finally get an agreement with the police at Trandum, so we are allowed to visit Mohammad. We are not given a specific time, just “Friday”, and we have to wait for a phone call. They call from Trandum, and the time slot for visiting is limited. We set the course out of Oslo. It is a long trip to Trandum, and the prison is remote and sort of hidden. Outside we press the calling system. We tell that we are here to visit Mohammad, and we are entering through two big, tall metal gates. Inside the prison we are told that it is not allowed to take photos or use cell phones, something which is clearly repeated on the signs on the walls.
We are brought into a meeting room. The room is small and sterile, with white walls. In the middle of the room there are four chairs. There is a window on one of the walls, but the view is far from uplifting. Outside all we can see is a large naked area, surrounded by metal fencing and barbed wire.
The police goes to ask Mohammad if he will accept the visit. Shortly after, Mohammad is brought into the room. The door gets locked from the outside. We hug each other, and ask how he is doing. He is more interested in getting to know how the people in the camp are doing. He expresses that he is worried for the camp, and says he is not getting any information here. He says he is really scared, and he does not know what will happen.
He says he has been sitting quietly in a room the first day. Drinking tea and watching television. Suddenly five police officers had entered the room and taken his ID card. He was taken to a solitary room. A small cell. This is the room where he now spends the days. He says that the room is small, only a few square metres. The door is a thick cell door with a small hatch which can be opened from the outside for communication. Apart from the bed, the room is completely empty. He says that his only source for daylight is a small square opening in the ceiling, just above the bed. The walls have no windows.
Further he says that he is not allowed to speak with anyone else at Trandum. If he wants out from the room to go to the toilet, he have to ring a bell, often 10-15 times, and then being followed to the toilet. If he want a cup of water, he will get it through the same hatch in the door. The staff at Trandum have brought him food, but he says he will not eat. He says that the times the staff brings the food, is the only times he ever have contact with people here.
“Tell the people in the camp that they should not worry about Mohammad. I will not eat anything before I meet you again in the camp,” he says. Yesterday he has only been drinking water. While we talk with him, he is holding a cup of water. He says this is the last cup he will drink until he is released from Trandum and is back in the camp.
We contact the police, asking if we can show Mohammad something from Facebook. It is OK as long as Mohammad is not using the phone to call anyone. We show him the Facebook event for the torchlight procession in his name, the news from TV2-nyhetene. Photos from the demonstration after he was arrested. He says he is very thankful for all support and for everyone that wants to help him. We register that he gets a good feeling from watching this. He sees that he is not alone.
As we are leaving each other, he is smiling to us. He has hope and as we are leaving, he asks us to bring his greeting to the others in the camp.
It is shocking that such places exist in Norway. The police at Trandum are wearing protection gear. The whole area is similar to the occupied areas, and resembles an Israeli checkpoint. The meeting in Trandum is a strong and very though moment, the worst so far in Norway.
On Saturday the 3rd of December there will be a torchlight procession for Mohammad. Meet up at The Palestinian Camp at 16:00.
