Former Danish immigration and integration minister, Inger Støjberg, was convicted to 60 days in prison for illegally separating asylum-seeking couples if the partner was under 18, reports Euronews. An uncompromising Islamophobic hardliner who served as minister during 2005-2019 was also responsible for passing a law that required asylum seekers to hand over valuables like jewelry to pay for their stays in Denmark.
The impeachment court, which had not convened for 26 years, found Inger Støjberg guilty of providing parliament with “incorrect and misleading information and that she had neglected her ministerial duties >”intentionally or through gross negligence.”
Apart from her conviction, parliament will decide whether she can continue to serve as an MP.
Maintaining her innocence and thanking her supporters, Støjberg was quoted as saying on Facebook that the ruling was a blow to Danish values.
Apart from other harsh laws against asylum seekers, Støjberg ended up in legal hot water when she initiated a policy of separating under-eighteen-year-olds from their partners on suspicion of forced marriages.
Writes Euronews: “Twenty-three couples — mostly from Syria — were split up and placed in separate centers before the policy was halted months later. Officials said some couples arrived in Denmark with children or while the woman was pregnant.”
All of the women stated that they had consented to their marriages.
The sentence, which cannot be appealed, is seen as a huge victory for reason in Denmark, where Islamophobia continues to be the standard.
