Søren Holm Seerup was chairman of the jury that on Friday last week sentenced Morten Messerschmidt to six months’ conditional imprisonment in the so-called Meld case of fraud with EU funds.
The Special Court of Appeal only has the opportunity to express disapproval of the judge’s conduct. It has no bearing on whether the case can go on.
In connection with the complaint, Messerschmidt demands, among other things, that Seerup must state whether he has been assigned the Meld case at random according to the ordinary division of cases in court, or whether he has directly requested it.
After the verdict, Ekstra Bladet was able to tell that Søren Holm Seerup on Facebook liked a post from former Member of Parliament and Minister Søren Pind. According to Ekstra Bladet, the post problematizes Messerschmidt’s continued vice presidency.
It was against this background that Trudsø said that there would be a complaint. Subsequently, Morten Messerschmidt published a number of examples of Søren Holm Seerup on Facebook in a number of cases liking or commenting on posts about the Danish People’s Party or the Meld case.
– In relation to the present complaint, there is reason to recall the special requirement for independence and objectivity, which should be made to the judge who judges in a case with major political consequences, it is stated in the complaint, which is signed by Peter Trudsø.
In the complaint, Peter Trudsø refers to the Eastern High Court ruling, where a criminal case in 2019 ended up having to be repeated. Here, a judge had written on social media that she did not want the defendant in the case as a friend.
The High Court thought at the time that it made the judge incompetent, and therefore the case had to go around.
The Special Court of Appeal cannot decide whether the case should go on. It is only in closed cases that it is a possibility. The Messerschmidt case is not closed because the politician after last week’s verdict chose to appeal to the Eastern High Court.
In connection with the processing of the appeal case, the High Court may decide that the case must be remanded for re-examination in the district court – ie go over.
Ritzau on Thursday tried to get a comment from Morten Messerschmidt, but he does not want to participate.
The administration at the Court in Lyngby informed Ritzau the other day that Judge Seerup does not want to comment. In connection with a formal complaint on Friday, Ritzau has approached the court again to hear whether it still applies.
Source: The Nordic Page