Recently, the trial began for a Polish man charged with assaulting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Frederiksen, however, is not anticipated to attend the trial. The assault allegedly took place on June 7 in central Copenhagen when the man punched Frederiksen in the shoulder. This resulted in a minor whiplash injury for the Prime Minister, who subsequently had to cancel her schedule for several days.
The Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet reported that the 39-year-old Polish man is charged with hitting Frederiksen’s shoulder with a clenched fist, which caused her to lose her balance but not fall.
During the court proceedings, his defense lawyer, Henrik Karl Nielsen, stated that his client pleaded not guilty to the charges. The man, who has been residing in Denmark for five years, admitted to being “intoxicated by alcohol but not drunk” at the time of the incident.
Trial Begins for Polish Man Charged with Assaulting Danish PM Mette Frederiksen; She’ll Not Attend
According to Danish public broadcaster DR, the accused man testified that he was wandering around Copenhagen when he encountered Frederiksen. A police officer assigned to Frederiksen’s protection described how the man approached her while she was on the phone and struck her after muttering something unintelligible. The officer noted that the man appeared to be angry during the assault.
In addition to the assault charges, the Polish man faces multiple other allegations, including sexual harassment for exposing himself and groping a woman at a train station, as well as fraud for mishandling deposit-marked bottles and cans. He has admitted to these additional charges.
Frederiksen, 46, has been Denmark’s Prime Minister since 2019 and led the country through significant events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a controversial decision to cull Denmark’s mink population.
The trial is set to conclude on Wednesday, though it remains unclear when a verdict will be delivered. This assault occurred amid a broader rise in violence against politicians leading up to the EU elections. For context, Denmark has seen relatively few political attacks, with one notable incident in 2003 involving activists throwing paint at a former Prime Minister.
