In addition to himself, it was signed by Marcus Knuth and Martin Henriksen – then foreign affairs rapporteurs for the Liberal Party and the Danish People’s Party, respectively.
The three politicians aired their concern that a public grant of 680,000 kroner was on its way to the Exit Circle, which helps victims of psychological violence.
According to the email, the organization was represented by two women with controversial Islamic views. The allegations in the email prompted the leader of the Exit Circle – Imam Sherin Khankan – to sue the trio for libel.
Three and a half years later, the case has reached the top of the Danish legal system, and on Monday Khankan and Naser Khader will meet in the Supreme Court.
Marcus Knuth and Martin Henriksen are no longer part of the case, as according to Sherin Khankan they were just “accomplices” in the alleged blackmail.
In addition to the famous email, the case is about several posts on Facebook, which Naser Khader wrote after the case about Khader, Knuth and Henriksen’s warning against the Exit Circle became known to the public.
Here he wrote, among other things, about the female imam’s “black Islamist past”, which did not go down well with Khankan.
She denies that she is or has been an Islamist.
– No, of course I am not. An Islamist is a person who defines Islam as a political ideology. I am a female imam and you cannot be a female imam and an Islamist at the same time, she says ahead of the trial.
She points out that she is in favor of secularism, where state and religion are separated, and that Islamists are in favor of the exact opposite.
In addition, she conducts interfaith marriages as an imam, which is not possible if you are an Islamist, Khankan explains.
– I think it is undermining democracy that powerful politicians at Christiansborg can abuse their political influence to spread lies and undermine citizens’ personal reputation and professional work.
– So it is an attempt to set a limit, says Sherin Khankan about the reason for taking the case to the Supreme Court.
But Naser Khader denies having abused power, says his lawyer, Heidi Højmark Helveg, in an email to Ritzau.
Khader has been on sick leave since April with stress and has not wanted to speak directly to the media.
– Naser Khader is responsible to his voters, who in his opinion have chosen him, among other things, because he fights against political Islam – Islamism, the lawyer writes.
The libel case was heard in the Eastern High Court last year without having been past the city court first. This is due to its principled nature.
Naser Khader, Marcus Knuth and Martin Henriksen were both sued here.
But the High Court rejected the part of the lawsuit that dealt with the parliamentary email about the Exit Circle.
This was done with reference to the fact that members of the Folketing cannot, in principle, be held responsible for statements made or written in connection with their work in the Folketing.
At the same time, Naser Khader was acquitted of the allegations of libel on Facebook.
He did so, partly because the notices were written as part of the public debate, and partly because the statements – in the High Court’s view – to a certain extent were valid in reality.
– With the delimitation of what it means to be an Islamist, which was set by the Eastern High Court, it is Naser Khader’s hope to also be acquitted in the Supreme Court, writes Heidi Højmark Helveg.