Danish PM attack suspect goes on trial / Photo: © Ritzau Scanpix/AFP
Danish PM attack suspect goes on trial
A Polish man accused of drunkenly punching Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen goes on trial in Copenhagen on Tuesday, risking prison time and deportation if convicted.
The suspect, whom Danish authorities have ruled cannot be named in the media, was immediately apprehended after the alleged assault on June 7 in a Copenhagen square which left the prime minister with whiplash.
The 39-year-old has denied responsibility and said he has no recollection of what happened.
Frederiksen, 46, underwent a medical examination afterwards and was diagnosed with a "contusion on her right shoulder and a minor whiplash injury", her office said.
Prosecutor Line Steffensen has said the man was intoxicated and had stolen alcohol from a grocery store just before his encounter with the prime minister.
According to Steffensen, the suspect had been arrested on several occasions for shoplifting since moving to Denmark five years ago.
He is charged with violence against a public servant for having punched Frederiksen with a "closed fist on the right shoulder", according to the charge sheet.
He also faces several charges of indecent exposure and fraud related to other incidents the same day and in the past.
The trial at the Copenhagen district court is scheduled to start at 9:30 am (0730 GMT) and last two days.
- 'Saddened and shaken' -
The prime minister was on her way to meet a friend for coffee when the suspect approached her.
She was accompanied by her security team but the accused still managed to get close to her before being tackled, according to witnesses.
Frederiksen became Denmark's youngest-ever head of government when she was elected in 2019, aged 41. She won re-election in 2022.
After the incident, Frederiksen said she was "saddened and shaken" and did not take part in the final day of campaigning for the EU parliament elections in June.
Speaking a week after the attack, Frederiksen said she had sought professional help.
"I have gotten help for the first time in my life," the 46-year-old told Danish television TV2 at a political festival on Denmark's Bornholm island.
Neither the prosecution nor defence will call Frederiksen as a witness during the trial, according to Danish media.
"Based on the totality of the evidence, we assess that it is not immediately necessary to call her as a witness," special prosecutor Anders Larsson said after the charges were filed, according to news agency Ritzau.
"A case can be adequately examined by other testimonies and information than the aggrieved party's account," he added.
The attack was widely condemned by leading European politicians, including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who called it a "despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe".
It followed a spate of assaults on European politicians from across the political spectrum ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
On May 15, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot four times at close range as he greeted supporters after a government meeting.
Several politicians in Germany had been attacked at work or on the campaign trail.
M.Vargas--ESF
