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CRIME

Danish family smuggled 69 dogs, 10 horses and 4 goats to Sweden

A Danish family of four have been found guilty of smuggling after they moved from Denmark to Sweden and brought their 83 animals without the proper paperwork.

Published: 21 September 2017 16:34 CEST
Danish family smuggled 69 dogs, 10 horses and 4 goats to Sweden
File photo of goats not related to the story. Photo: Jurek Holzer/SvD/TT

It all started when the family moved from Denmark to Sweden in 2014, to rent a farm.

The father, the only one of the four with a driving licence, made several round trips to Sweden to transport the family's belongings and their animals to their new home, while the rest of the family made the journey by train.

But the animals were never reported to Swedish Customs Agency and the majority of them lacked the necessary documents such as passports and recent veterinary certificates.

The case was brought to Swedish authorities' attention when the county administrative board visited the farm for a routine check and, after contacting the Swedish Board of Agriculture, launched an investigation.

Malmö District Court on Tuesday found them guilty of smuggling, according to court documents seen by The Local, but emphasized it was not an aggravated smuggling offence, as the family had no previous convictions and it turned out there had been no risk of the animals spreading diseases.

The father was nevertheless handed a conditional sentence and a 5,000 kronor ($625) fine. The other three – his wife and her daughter and partner – were each fined 3,000 kronor.

CRIME

Denmark to add war crimes to criminal code

Denmark is to give international war crimes a specific paragraph in its criminal code, ending its position as one of the last European countries not to have specific laws on war crimes.

Published: 21 March 2023 11:58 CET
Denmark to add war crimes to criminal code

The government confirmed on Tuesday that it supports a motion by the opposition Socialist People’s Party (SF) to introduce a war crimes paragraph.

“I think it’s important to say first and foremost that war crimes are already illegal in Danish criminal law,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told news wire Ritzau.

“It is not written in as specific clauses in the criminal law, but all offences that are war crimes are criminal,” he said.

“But with all that said, I think that SF has an important point in saying that the time has now come for us to introduce an independent criminalisation of war crimes. I think that would send out an important message to the world, and especially to victims,” he said.

“I will therefore, when the motion is discussed tomorrow [Tuesday, ed.] say, that the government backs criminalising war crimes independently under Danish law,” he said.

Hummelgaard plans to initiate a committee to look into how laws against war crimes can be written and added to the criminal code.

The committee will also consider whether sentences for war crimes should be higher than existing sentences given from crimes such as murder and torture.

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