Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Islamabad News advertisment DW News December 22, 2021 - Former Danish Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg is stripped of his parliamentary seat on Tuesday, December 21. Inger, 48, was convicted by a court in 2016 of separating underage couples seeking political asylum, following which he was indicted in parliament.
Last week, the court sentenced Stoijberg to 60 days in prison in the same case.
Although it is unlikely that she will serve her sentence, a 25-member 26-judge bench upheld her impeachment and decided to remove her immediately.
Denmark has been the first country to be prosecuted since 1995, and this is the sixth such case in more than a century and a half.
Stojberg is the first member of parliament to be expelled in the last 30 years, and the fourth since 1953.
Who is Inger Stojberg?
Stojberg has presented himself as a champion of "Danish values" and is one of the country's most popular politicians. However, he now faces charges of deliberately ordering the separation of underage couples seeking political asylum. He instructed that if any girl was under 18 years of age, she should be separated from her peers.
Stojberg says she was protecting young girls by doing so. However, in this case, the position of Danish law and human rights organizations is that in enforcing this law, each case needs to be examined on its own merits and cannot be used indiscriminately. In 2016, Stojberg overseen the separation of a total of 23 couples.
What happened during the vote?
GP Bruce, a spokesman for the ruling Social Democrats, told parliament that "the sentence handed down to Ms. Inger Stojberg in court does not correspond to her membership in parliament."
Ms. Stojberg belongs to the Liberal Party, which she left in February. The leader of this party was also among the 98 members of parliament who voted against Stojberg.
Liberal Party leader Carsten Loretzen said "it is not appropriate for me to be a Member of Parliament after being sentenced to prison."
But he was backed by about 18 lawmakers from the far-right Danish People's Party and New Wright, who opposed his expulsion from parliament.
Stojberg's reaction to the impeachment
Stojberg spoke to reporters after being removed from his post, as if he had been forcibly removed from parliament.
My colleagues should not have voted me out of parliament like this, because I tried to protect some girls instead of turning a blind eye. Should have been out, Stoijberg served as immigration minister from 2015 to 2019.
