COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A Polish man will stand trial in Denmark on Tuesday over an attack on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in central Copenhagen in early June, facing charges of assaulting a public official.
The incident, which took place two days before European Parliament elections, left Frederiksen with a minor neck injury and led her to cancel several engagements while warning of rising aggression in public.
The attack in Denmark happened three weeks after Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt and just over a month before the shooting of U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump.
The 39-year-old man who is accused of punching Frederiksen said in preliminary questioning that he was not guilty of the offence. He said he could not remember much from the episode due to intoxication, according to police.
Investigators have said he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time, and was believed to be unaware that the victim was Denmark’s prime minister. Danish media said the suspect had been living in Denmark for several years.
Frederiksen, who was accompanied by security guards, sustained a minor whiplash injury in the assault, which occurred in a square in Copenhagen’s centre, her office has said.
She was able to walk away from the incident unaided, eyewitnesses have told Reuters.
In a television interview a few days later, Frederiksen said she had observed a shift in public discourse in recent years, with a harsh tone developing on social media and “a lot of shouting in public, people behaving very, very aggressively.”
A verdict in the case could come as soon as Wednesday, the Copenhagen court has said.
The suspect’s lawyer was not available for comment, and the public prosecutor declined to comment.
(Reporting by Isabelle Yr Carlsson, additional reporting by Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Ros Russell)
