The Mink Commission has harshly criticized Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for her role in the 2020 killing of all Danish mink.
The Mink Commission says in a report submitted to the Folketing today that Frederiksen broke the law when she stated at a press conference on 4 November 2020 that mink farmers must kill their mink to stop the spread of a new COVID-19- variant.
“The Prime Minister’s Office has acted very critically in the process, which led to gross misrepresentation of mink breeders and the public and clearly illegal instructions to the authorities in connection with the press conference on November 4,” the report reads.
However, the Mink Commission has made clear its position that Frederiksen “subjectively had no knowledge or intent” to issue the order illegally and has not assessed whether there has been gross negligence at stake.
Instead, the Commission assumes that Frederiksen was only informed of her lack of legal authority to command the mink’s killing four days after she had already done so.
Others in trouble
The Mink Commission also criticizes former Minister of the Environment and Food Mogens Jensen, claiming that he found out about the lack of legal authority earlier than he claims.
The Commission assumes that Mogens Jensen was informed of the lack of authorization to kill all the minks on 5 November 2020, and that Mogens Jensen thus provided incorrect information during the hearing on 11 November 2020, where he repeatedly stated that he was first made aware. of the lack of authority ‘on the weekend’, โthe report states.
The Prime Minister’s Minister Barbara Bertelsen is also under fire in the Mink Commission’s report for failing to ask questions about the legality of the killing to the Ministry of the Environment and Food. The Commission has concluded that there are grounds for bringing a disciplinary action against her, stating that the consequences of her actions were that the Ministry of the Environment and Food stepped in to some extent and was interrupted, regardless of whether the ministry was responsible for mink. โ.
The Mink Commission was also unforgiving towards the National Police Chief Thorkild Fogde and claimed that he should have reacted immediately when he was informed about the illegality of the mink murder order. Bailiffs are now together with Henrik Studsgaard and Tejs Binderup from the Ministry of the Environment and Food and Johan Legarth from the Ministry of Justice involved in disciplinary cases as a result of the mink debacle.
Will there be more consequences?
It has not yet been decided whether Frederiksen will face legal consequences.
In order for a national lawsuit to be filed against her, one of the government’s support parties had to back it. So far, it seems unlikely that this will happen.
“The central question is the question of intent: that is, if you do something on purpose against better knowledge,” said the Unity List’s group chairman Peder Hvelplund. “There is nothing to suggest this in relation to the Prime Minister.”
Radical and Socialist People’s Party have yet to read the Mink Commission’s report and communicate their views.
The Prime Minister himself is set to hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to discuss the report.
Source: The Nordic Page