Denmark's Ex-Minister Gets Jail For Illegally Separating Couples Seeking Asylum

Who is Inger Støjberg: Denmark's former Minister of Immigration, Inger Støjberg, was Monday found guilty of illegally separating asylum-seeking couples, which had underage partners. During a controversial period in the country in 2016, Støjberg was at the forefront of making decisions on Denmark's asylum law that had prompted human rights advocates to flag concerns.

Støjberg, 48, had issued a decree in 2016 that ordered for minor partners in couples seeking asylum in Denmark to be housed in separate centres. The legal marriage age in Denmark is 18.

Her justification was that it was a move against child marriages and forced marriages, as per reports.

As per local paper Copenhagen Post, Støjberg was convicted in an almost unanimous verdict by a panel of 26 Supreme Court judges. She has been awarded a sentence of 60 days (two months).

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Støjberg was reportedly poised to assume leadership in Denmark's right-wing Dansk Folkeparti (or the Danish People's Party) but that position remains undecided and will likely be put on hold in the wake of her court conviction.

The politician, since the 2015 European migrant crisis - when a record-making million-plus people requested asylum in Europe - has been a controversial figure, especially for her view on refugee policies.

Reports suggest Støjberg, during her time in the government, pushed an anti-asylum agenda in Denmark. She devised policy that was controversially aimed at dissuading refugees from entering Denmark to seek asylum.

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A Member of Parliament since 2001, Støjberg has previously held positions in the Danish government during different terms as the Minister for Gender Equality, for Employment and for Immigration and Housing. She was associated with the country's liberal Venstre party until 2021 before she quit ahead of an impeachment trial regarding her controversial 2016 decree.

As per reports, as many as 23 asylum-seeking couples were separated under Støjberg's leadership before there was an order to halt the policy.

Following her conviction this week, she told the media that "it was Danish values that lost today" and that if she had not "protected" the girls, things would have been worse.