Prime Minister: Crime is linked to immigrants, and we are proposing billions for new prisons and to support the police and prosecution.
According to a report published a short while ago by Danish Radio, the current government, the Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokrati) government, will present a proposal on Tuesday targeting people with a foreign background, such as the children of immigrants. The government wants to allocate billions of kroner to build new prisons, ensure faster case processing in the legal system, support the police and the public prosecution, and increase the number of workers in this sector, with the aim of tightening penalties for crimes with much longer prison terms if serious crimes are committed against people in the future.
In an interview with Berlingske newspaper, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen did not hide the fact that the bill specifically targets criminals with a foreign background who are overrepresented in Denmark's crime statistics. According to the Prime Minister, she told Berlingske: "Unfortunately, the reality is that immigration policy is closely linked to crime, and there is a very large group that is not part of Denmark.".
Frederiksen spoke to the newspaper about violence, rape, repeat offenses, organized crime, reckless and humiliating crimes as forms that should be punished more severely.
Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye explained to TV2 that the current level of punishment in such cases prompted the government's decision to take action. He cited an example from Copenhagen, where a young man in Indre By was assaulted by several people, beaten, kicked, and had his head stomped on. One of the attackers was convicted but sentenced to only six months in prison. Tesfaye did not specify how severe the punishment for such a crime would be in the future if the government's proposal were adopted into law.
Stricter penalties to deter criminals
The government believes that the scope of punishment in violent crime cases should be broadened so that judges have better opportunities to impose harsher penalties, while emphasizing that it respects the judges' right to issue rulings in accordance with the law.
Tsvae points out that in addition to removing the most violent criminals from the streets, it is also important to send messages that will warn of harsher penalties: “We want to send a signal from Danish society about what is right and reasonable. It is also up to us to define the morals of Danish society.”.
Tsfaye cited the tightening of gun control laws in the gang environment, which he said had an effect in deterring criminals.
Tsfaye commented on the reasons for the government's submission of the new bill, saying: "One of the reasons we haven't done this before is that the prisons are overflowing to the point of bursting, just as there are piles of cases at both the police and the prosecution.".
