Danish ex-minister Inger Stojberg was today sentenced to 60 days in prison for illegally breaking up migrant couples who applied for asylum in the country. She cannot appeal the verdict and will have to serve the sentence.
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Stojberg has been convicted of abuse of office. She had misled parliament about her illegal decisions, according to the special court that has been examining the affair since September. Stojberg is ‘surprised’ that it has come to a prison sentence; a fine was more likely, according to experts. The ex-minister expected to be acquitted. She said the policy was designed to combat child marriage. “I’m not the only one who lost, we’ve also lost the Danish values,” Stojberg said afterwards to the press out of court. She accepts her punishment.
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In 2016, the former Minister of Immigration ordered the separation of 23 coupleswithout assessing the cases individually. According to the court, Stojberg’s policy goes against the European Convention on Human Rights. After a few months, the policy was adjusted again. One of the couples who had broken up was a young Syrian couple, Rimaz Alkayal (then 17) and her husband Alnour Alwan (then 26) who were allowed to reunite after a complaint. They were forced to live apart for four months while she was pregnant.
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Anti-migration party
The reason the couples were separated was that the women were younger than 18, but the age differences with their partners were small in most cases. According to Stojberg, separating the couples was “the only political and humane thing” she could do against child and forced marriage.
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From 2015 to 2019, Stojberg was minister responsible for the very strict migration policies of the then center-right government, which was supported by a populist anti-migration party. She has since left her liberal party, but is still a parliamentarian. It is unclear whether she can stay on as a member of parliament.
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Prosecutors Jon Lauritzen and Anne Birgitte Gammeljord are pleased with the ruling, they told reporters: “It is a historic case.” It is the first time since 1995 that so-called impeachment proceedings have been launched in Denmark against a current or former member of the government and only the sixth in 170 years.
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