Now you’re gone… to jail?

Basshunter is to stand trial for sexual assault only two weeks before he is scheduled to headline Big D in Week 10. The Swedish electro DJ, real name Jonas Erik Altberg, is due to return to the Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court next Tuesday, where his case will continue.

The 26-year-old music star is accused of sexually assaulting two teenagers in Kitty’s nightclub in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, last December. One of the girls, 19, explained how Altberg made a crude sexual remark at her cousin, before grabbing both their heads and moving them towards his crotch.

Vision has brought this to the Women’s Officers attention, and they have refrained from giving a comment until they have discussed it at their committee meeting this week.

At the court the girl added: “We went to leave the VIP area but [the cousin] was pulled back. She was held round the waist and bent over, and her dress was lifted.

“Her dress normally sat just above the knee, and it was lifted to around waist level. She was wearing a thong underneath.”

The second girl, aged 18, described another incident in which Basshunter is said to have forcibly slapped her backside: “He grabbed me by the hips and lifted up my dress in line with my belly button. He then proceeded to grab the back of my underwear. He pulled them up and exposed both of my bum cheeks.
“He then slapped my buttocks. It was a forceful hit, a good hard slap. It was painful and there was a very loud slapping noise. Regardless of what you’re wearing or who you are as a person, no one asks to be assaulted.”

Some doubts have since been cast on the girls’ testimony, since one of them approached a Scottish national newspaper before eventually going to the police.

Vision contacted the Big D organisers on several occasions before going to print, but they refused to provide a comment.

Vanbrugh fresher Belinda Simpson, who will be going to Big D, told Vision: “it’s inappropriate for him to be playing at a university, and York really shouldn’t be supporting his career.”

However, third-year Politics student Chris Young argues: “Basshunter is a quality act with continental-wide fame. With all the problems York’s had in getting such acts to perform on our tiny campus, I think it would be madness to turn him away for something that he hasn’t even been proved guilty of.”

Alex Miles, a second-year student from Derwent, agrees, stating that “obviously the incident is embarrassing for Basshunter and the girls involved, but he has a generally good reputation and I can see him being an act that everyone will enjoy.”

YUSU Welfare Officer Laura Borisovaite said: “YUSU welfare does not carry the function of approving acts that perform on campus and I do believe that choices for performing artists are made on the basis of entertainment and value for money they provide… [We do carry out] risk assessments prior to the event. It is unfortunate that an artist booked by this charity event is under investigation and I do believe that due to the court decision his availability to perform will be decided out of our hands.”

If found guilty, Altberg, whose tracks include lyrics sucj as “everyday you’re in my head, I want to have in my bed,” could face a fine or a prison sentence, with the possibility of him missing Big D on June 30.
Basshunter’s management simply told Vision, “This show is happening…”