On Monday, Denmark’s high-power court convicted Inger Stoejberg, who served as the country’s immigration minister between 2015-19, for ordering the separation of refugees couples if the woman was under 18.
Stoejberg’s 2016 order, as she argues, was aimed at stamping out the practice of child brides who were being imported into the country in the wake of the migrant wave. “A total of 23 couples were separated, with the wives ranging in age from 15 to 17 years,” Germany’s DW News reported.
The so-called Impeachment Court, specially set up for Stoejberg’s trial, “agreed that the order had violated Danish law and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the TV network Euronews reported.
The court’s judgment cannot be challenged and the former minister is expected to serve the 60-day sentence. “The verdict cannot be appealed and the jail sentence is unconditional, meaning that it must be served,” the BBC reported.
Stoejberg, who belongs to the center-right Venstre Party, appeared defiant in face of the harsh judgment. “It’s not just me who has lost but Danish values have lost too,” she told journalists outside the courthouse.
Reuters news agency reported the bizarre conviction:
Former Danish immigration minister Inger Stojberg, known for her hardline stance in that role, was handed a 60-day prison sentence on Monday by an impeachment court for having illegally ordered the separation of under-age couples seeking asylum.Stojberg was accused of knowingly breaking the law in 2016 by ordering the separation of all asylum-seeking refugee couples where at least one was under 18 years of age, a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.Under Danish and human rights law, couples must be assessed individually, implying that the minister’s order to separate all underage couples was illegal. A total of 23 couples were separated.”I’m very, very surprised. I think it is the Danish values that have lost,” Stojberg told reporters. “I wished and still wish to protect these girls.”
The opponents of Stoejberg’s tough immigration policy celebrated her sentencing on Twitter and other social media platforms. The Danish politician has long been in the crosshairs of European leftwing and pro-open border activists.
In a 2018 article, Germany’s state-funded DW News published a litany of charges against the then-Danish minister. “Stoejberg has overseen dozens of statutes tightening immigration laws under her tenure, such as requirements for learning Danish, tougher citizenship tests and financial independence. Stoejberg has limited the amount of social services available to asylum seekers,” the German broadcaster lamented.
Since the migrant wave of 2015, Europe has seen a spike in child marriages. While there are no reliable statistics, European NGOs estimate that there are thousands of child brides living in forced marriages across the continent.
While Stoejberg in Denmark raised the alarm about imported child brides, other European countries tried to appease the migrants on this issue. In 2016, Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas proposed a law aimed at legalizing the primitive practice of child brides.
“A 13-year-old child bride would have to testify against her husband, saying that her well-being as a child is under threat. If neither the child nor the Child Welfare Service lodges a complaint, for all practical purposes the marriage would be declared legitimate,” German newspaper Bild reported citing the provisions of the bill.
In a turn of events that typify today’s Europe: while Stoejberg faces incarceration for her courageous stand, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel elevated her appeasing justice minister to the post of country’s foreign minister in 2018.
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