A Danish court sentenced a Polish man to four months in prison and ordered his deportation on Wednesday for assaulting Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in June. The 39-year-old, whose identity has been withheld by Danish authorities, was arrested immediately following the alleged attack on June 7 in Copenhagen.
Judge Jacob Scherfig informed the defendant, "We have found you guilty of punching the prime minister with a closed fist on the right shoulder." The man, a five-year resident of Denmark, will face deportation upon completing his sentence and will be barred from re-entering Denmark for six years.
During the trial, the defendant denied the assault, claiming he only remembered meeting the prime minister but not touching her. He attributed his memory lapse to the effects of alcohol and the shock of encountering Frederiksen. Through his lawyer, he accepted the court's decision following the verdict.
Prime Minister Frederiksen, 46, sustained a contusion and minor whiplash from the incident. The man was charged with violence against a public official, as well as multiple counts of indecent exposure and fraud from unrelated incidents. Neither side called Frederiksen to testify, as the prosecution deemed their case robust without her testimony.
Frederiksen, Denmark's youngest-ever head of government, was re-elected in 2022. The assault drew widespread condemnation from European leaders, including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who described it as a "despicable act against European values." The incident occurred amidst a series of attacks on European politicians leading up to the European Parliament elections.
