Nordic Biker War

The Nordic Biker War was a gang war that began in January 1994 and continued until September 1997 in parts of Scandinavia and Finland, involving the Hells Angels and Bandidos outlaw motorcycle clubs. The conflict is also known as the Great Nordic Biker War or Second Biker War (Danish: anden rockerkrig) to distinguish it from the earlier Copenhagen Biker War, which took place between 1983 and 1985.^[5][6]

The conflict arose from disputes over territory and organized crime rackets, as well as personal feuds within the biker subculture. Specifically, the members of both groups sought a monopoly on the right to engage in crime in certain geographical areas.^[7] The war resulted in the killings of nine gang members, with shootings and bombings totalling another 74 attempted murders.^[8] The bikers utilized car bombs, machine guns, hand grenades, anti-tank missiles and small arms during their gang war, and assassination attempts were even made inside prisons.^[9] The majority of the hostilities took place in or around Copenhagen in Denmark, Helsinki in Finland, Oslo in Norway, and Helsingborg in Sweden.^[10]

The biker war was also costly for the police, who struggled to put an end to the murders. In overtime for police officers alone, the cost was set at around 50–75 million kroner.^[11][12] On 15 October 1996, a bill, known as the Rockerloven [da] ("Rocker Act") in the media, was passed in the Folketing (Danish Parliament) which allows the police to evict motorcycle gangs from their headquarters.^[13][14][15] As a result of the 1996–1997 period of the conflict alone, 138 people were sentenced to a total of 240 years in prison.^[16][17] Several of those convicted were given life imprisonment for murder and attempted murder.^[18] Specific wings for motorcycle gang members were created at Vridsløselille Prison and Horsens State Prison.^[19] Significant improvements were also made to the security of military weapons depots as a result of the Nordic Biker War after several burglaries.^[20]

The conflict effectively came to an end in the summer of 1997 when the two sides reached a peace agreement, with the well-known defence lawyer Thorkild Høyer [da] as mediator. On 25 September 1997, Bent Svane Nielsen of the Hells Angels and then-Bandidos president Jim Tinndahn announced during a press conference that the rival clubs had ended their war. Nielsen stated "We cannot give guarantees that there will be no more incidents, but we can actively intervene and ensure that those who defy the cooperation agreement are excluded from our biker culture."^[21][22]