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 The fine is for 20,000 Norwegian crowns ($2,352), police chief Ole
Saeverud told a news conference.
The two-term prime minister apologised last month for organising an
event for her 60th birthday with 13 family members at a mountain
resort in late February, despite a government ban on gatherings of
more than 10 people.
While the police would not have issued a fine in most such cases,
the prime minister has been at the forefront of the government's
work to impose restrictions, police said.
"Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of
the law," said Saeverud, justifying the fine.
"It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the
general public's trust in the rules on social restrictions," he
said.
Police said Solberg and her husband, Sindre Finnes, made the
decision together to hold a celebration and picked the restaurant,
with Finnes taking care of the practical arrangements.
Though police said he had broken the law as well, he was not fined.
The restaurant where the celebration took place was also found to
have violated the law but it was not fined.
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"Solberg is the country's leader and she has been at the forefront
of the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus," said
Saeverud.
The prime minister's office was not immediately available for
comment.
Solberg, who faces elections for parliament in September, has
championed strict rules to curb the spread of the coronavirus,
resulting in some of Europe's lowest rates of infection and deaths.
But the country saw a rapid rise in infections in the first quarter
of 2021, led by more contagious variants of the virus, forcing the
government to tighten restrictions in late March.
($1 = 8.5029 Norwegian crowns)
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
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