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CrimeDenmark

Polish man convicted for assault on Danish PM Frederiksen

August 7, 2024

An assailant has been sentenced to four months in prison for punching the Danish prime minister in June. The assault comes amid fears of growing political violence.

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Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was left with a slight injury after the attackImage: Jeremias Gonzalez/AP/picture alliance

A Polish man has been found guilty of assaulting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Danish media reported on Wednesday.

A Copenhagen district court sentenced the 39-year-old to four months in prison, after which he will deported and barred from re-entry for six years. He had been living in Denmark for five years.

The incident took place during a chance encounter in a public square in Copenhagen in June.

Convicted of punching the prime minister

The man was accused of punching Frederiksen, leaving her with a slight neck injury and forcing her to cancel several engagements, just two days before the European Parliament elections.

"We have found you guilty of having punched the prime minister with a closed fist on the right shoulder," Judge Jacob Scherfig said after a two-day trial.

The man said he did not recall hitting Frederiksen, blaming the memory loss on having consumed alcohol and the surprise of seeing the prime minister.

The 46-year-old prime minister had been out campaigning for her party's lead EU candidate Christel Schaldemose at the time of the attack. Schaldemose was elected to the parliament.

Man arrested after attack on Danish PM

However, police later said they did not believe the assault to have been politically motivated. 

Frederiksen became Denmark's youngest-ever prime minister when she was first elected, age 41, in 2019. She won reelection in 2022.

The assault was widely condemned, coming amid a spate of political violence, including the attempted assassination of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in May.

Convicted for exposure and sexual harassment

The convicted man also faced several other charges including indecent exposure and groping a woman at a train station, to which he pleaded guilty.

Prosecutor Anders Larsson said that people had been made "uncomfortable" by the man exposing his private parts, according to reporting by Danish public broadcaster DR.

"His behavior and demeanor are far removed from a citizen who should be in our society," Larsson said in court.

ab/wmr (Reuters, AP)