Denmark: Tamilgate: update (1)
01 July 1995
In September 1987 the then Danish Minister of Justice and the Danish immigration authorities put a stop on "immigration for family reunification" for Tamils. The so-called "Tamil-stop" lasted for 16 months causing serious hardships - including nervous breakdowns, attempted suicide, suicide and rape - among those waiting to be united in Denmark and Sri Lanka. According to recent articles, the "stop" even resulted in several deaths in Sri Lanka among those waiting for the Danish authorities to reach a decision concerning family reunification. The "stop" was illegal, as the Tamils had the legal right to remain in Denmark and be reunited with their families (see Statewatch vol 4 no 4).
In June 1993 a majority in the Danish parliament voted to impeach the former Minister of Justice, Erik Ninn-Hansen, for violating the Law for Ministerial Responsibility. The impeachment started in March 1994. A short time later the 72-year old former Justice Minister was declared "seriously ill" following a cerebral thrombosis. This led to an angry parliamentary debate over whether the proceedings should be dropped on humanitarian grounds. In August 1994 parliament decided to postpone the case indefinitely - a decision that was confirmed on three later occasions. In November the Legal Medical Council concluded that Ninn-Hansen would be incapable of participating in a court case.
Legal experts discussed, and disagreed, about the consequences of dropping the case, which had already cost the Danish state 40 million DKR. A professor in penal law, Vagn Greve f.i., argued that parliament could stop the case but that this would conflict with the principal of equality before the law. He pointed out that there are many cases where people are unable to participate in their defence that go ahead each year. Others argued that this was an impeachment and cannot be compared with an ordinary penal case.
Finally, at the end of 1994 a majority in the parliament decided that the case should go ahead as soon as Ninn-Hansen's health was stable. In April 1995 thirteen of the twenty judges in the Impeachment Court voted in favour of the case proceeding. Their decision may well have been influenced by the fact that Ninn-Hansen's health showed a marked improvement; he took frequent walking and bicycle trips and was working on an article for a journal. The official argument for proceeding asserted that Ninn-Hansen should not receive favourable treatment compared with people in penal cases.
On June 22, six years after the beginning of the "Tamilgate" case, Ninn-Hansen was found guilty of violating Paragraph 6 of the Law for Ministerial responsibility (which carries a maximum sentence of 2 years). The decision was broadly in agreement with the conclusion reached by High Court judge, Mogens Hornslet in January 1993. Fifteen of the judges stated that Ninn-Hansen should be sentenced after being found guilty; eight of them believed that he should receive an eight month suspended sentence while the 7 argued for a fine. The five other judges argued that he should be acquitted. Ninn-Hansen was eventually given a four month suspended sentence.
Information, Copenhagen