Denmark: Sex and abuse of power – serious allegations against politicians

A trial has dominated the Danish tabloid press for weeks, disturbing readers of the relevant news portals with juicy headlines about abuse of power, intimate photos, blackmail and violent sex.

The focus is on a member of the Danish Parliament. His alleged victim: a 30-year-old nurse. But she is the one sitting in the dock.

And all of Denmark is asking itself in this crazy affair: who is the victim and who is the perpetrator?

The scandal began a few weeks ago with the indictment of a 30-year-old woman from Copenhagen. She is said to have coerced a Folketing MP and distributed intimate photos of him. There is talk of blackmail; the woman is said to have threatened to publish juicy information about the MP’s private life if he did not agree to a meeting, the station reported. According to the indictment, her goal was for the MP to use his influence for the benefit of an organization she led, because of which she was also in legal trouble.

But in court, the defendant goes on the offensive and claims that she herself was the victim of the deputy’s greed for sex. The defendant’s version is supported by extensive correspondence between her and the politician, which the public prosecutor’s office presented in the trial. It says it contains more than 100 pages of text messages and photos.

The alleged blackmail victim from Folketing seems much less innocent. According to the defendant, the affair began with a match on Tinder. The conversations quickly turn to sexual preferences, with the politician allegedly sending images with sexual content to the defendant without being asked. He is also said to have written to her that he was into manipulation, exploitation and rough sex, even in public, with spectators or multiple partners. “Everything that is wrong is a little exciting,” he is said to have texted.

According to the defendant, a few days after the first contact they met in his apartment, where they also had sex. In court, the nurse described the intimate contact as excessively violent. She reported the deputy removed the condom during intercourse and penetrated her while she was sleeping the next morning and pressed a pillow over her face.

“I just wanted to take a bath to wash off the shame and get out the door,” she told the court. “I’m in pain, I’m bleeding and I feel really bad.”

However, another facet of the process is possibly even more dangerous for the Folketing man. Because the Tinder messages suggest that the man could have brought his office and power into play to help the woman in another case. The defendant is a political advocate for nursing students, and in this context she is said to have harassed and coerced a doctor and violated an injunction.

The politician is said to have promised her that he would “settle” the situation because he had relevant connections. Reprehensible – not necessarily punishable. But his credibility as a politician is of course shaken.

The matter is a hit for the tabloid press. The identity of the accused politician is not known. He has not yet testified in court and has obtained a name ban. His name cannot therefore be mentioned in the media. Nevertheless, many people in politics obviously know who it is. Anyone who has ever seen the TV series “Borgen” knows that secrets rarely remain hidden in Christiansborg.

The next hearing will take place on November 21st. The audio recording of the meeting between the defendant and the deputy is then expected to be played in court. However, a verdict is not expected until early next year.