A Lay-Judge Visual Protest
After a High Court hearing in mid-October 1983, one of the lay-judges in the High Court, came up to my defence, Folmer Reindel and I. This lay-judge said, to our surprise, “I have had enough of this injustice and will go right away to my member of parliament to ask for his help”. Although such an action and the statement must be considered highly irregular from a member of the panel of judges in the High Court, in the case, it was very positive for me and Folmer Reindel to witness.
Such a reaction from a High Court lay-judge showed that the Danish authorities had some difficulty in covering up the truth. In fact, today I would like this lay-judge to step forward and contact me.
As to their rubber-stamping Judge Claus Larsen’s verdict, the High Court had little choice. First, they had to throw out two of the ridiculous charges which the lay-judges would not go along with.
Secondly, they somehow had an obligation to discharge the Danish authorities which had kept me locked up in restrictive pre-trial confinement for more than four years.
This allowed the judges to give me an eight-year sentence, as I had served that and would immediately be released anyway. Further, the Special Prosecution had argued for 12 years prison sentence.
As the newspaper headlines say “Bagmandspolitiet wanted to give me a sentence of 12 years prison”. In the end, it became just an issue to justify more than 4 years of incarceration in pre-trial detention.
The fact that the judges agreed on five years must show that there were some problems with the lay-judges; the jurist judges could not really get their way of serving their masters.
Anyone who knows how the courts worked in Denmark at the time would have known that there must have been a compromise among the judges as well as pressure on the three lay-judges since the final judgment was a “lesser” justification than they could have made.
The previous protest by one of the two lay-judges in the City Court
Two years earlier to the High Court action by a lay-judge, my defence and I witnesses that early into the City Court proceedings, one of the lay judges excused himself and left, according to my lawyers he went to live in France. So, another housewife joins the other housewife as lay judges.
The lay judge who left the “show trial” appeared to be educated and did ask question constantly, which the judge had to answer. The two housewives just appeared to be two uneducated individual listenings to judge Claus Larsen.
The worst, both housewives had regular coffee and meals with the Claus Larsen and the members of the prosecution. No one was there to records what they daily talked about. One can only imagine how wrong such fraternisation was, just think of films showing American or English court cases, how the members of the jury are isolated from members of the prosecution and judges. Therefore, two housewives for hundreds of court hearings associating with the judiciary judge and the prosecution makes a mockery of justice.
The Rigged Danish Justice System
Yes, the Danish justice system was rigged before my win and judgement against Denmark at the European Court of Human Rights in 1989.
Yes, it was rigged by political prosecutions like mine. Yes, it was rigged because the Ministry of Justice was in charge of the police, prosecution, the appointment of the judges, the courts and prisons.
Even the former Minister of Justice for seven years and longest-serving member of the Danish Parliament, Erik Ninn-Hansen confirmed that the judges in Denmark were not independent – but under the dictatorship of the Ministry - he should know!
Rigged definition in most dictionaries: - manipulated or controlled by deceptive or dishonest means
Rigged is defined as something that is fixed in a dishonest way to guarantee the desired outcome.