Photographer: John Thys / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: John Thys / AFP / Getty Images
The woman behind Denmark’s strictest immigration laws will be the country’s first politician to defend herself in an impeachment process in nearly three decades, after her actions led to the illegal separation of young refugee couples.
Inger Stojberg, a former immigration minister who was recently forced to step down as deputy leader of Denmark’s main opposition party, will face trial after a majority in parliament has voted in favor of impeachment. Because the forthcoming final vote is largely a formality, it is the first time that the chamber has agreed to an impeachment lawsuit since 1993.
Stojberg gained fame under the previous government after writing some of the strictest immigration and asylum laws in the European Union. She is perhaps best known outside of Denmark for insisting that refugees hand over their valuables, including jewelry, when they apply for asylum. But that was Stojberg’s hard policy for family reunification received harsh criticism from, among others, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR other groups.
The impeachment process will focus on Stojberg’s 2016 instruction that refugee couples should be separated on arrival if the woman is under 18. The injunction ignored the requirements to conduct individual assessments and was considered illegal by the parliament ombudsman after a young Syrian couple complained. Stojberg was subsequently found to have lied to the chamber when asked to explain its decision.
The impeachment procedure follows a probe that identified Stojberg as the sole minister responsible for the alleged illegal instruction. Former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was acquitted of wrongdoing.
Stojberg has argued that her decision to divorce couples was based on a desire to protect girls from forced marriage before they reach adulthood. In total, 23 couples were separated as a result of her order. The age differences between men and women ranged from 16 years to just one year.
In Denmark, a lawsuit against impeachment can only be brought by the parliament or the monarch. After the legislature agrees that such a process is appropriate, the case is moved to the Danish Court of Impeachment of the Realm, which is made up of Supreme Court judges and experts appointed by Parliament.
The decision was a rare show of unity across party lines, with even Stojberg’s own party, the Liberals, backing the impeachment.
“I am a little disappointed that my own chairman has invited the rest of the parliament to initiate an impeachment trial against me,” Stojberg told reporters in the parliament after the party’s decision. “It is the biggest vote of no confidence I can get from my own chairman.”
The last politician to be impeached was Erik Ninn-Hansen, a former Justice Minister who was found guilty in 1995. He was given a four-month suspended sentence for his role in unlawfully preventing Tamil refugees from entering Denmark. The scandal toppled the conservative government at the time.
(Updates with comments in the penultimate paragraph)