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MINKS

Protestors damage Danish PM’s car during hearing

Police escorted Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s car away from the court in Frederiksberg on Thursday after demonstrators damaged a rear light and encircled the vehicle.

Danish police and protestors at Frederiksberg court on Thursday.
Danish police and protestors at Frederiksberg court on Thursday. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Frederiksen, who was at the court to meet a commission into her government’s decision last year to cull fur farm mink, was not in the car at the time of the incident.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s prime minister faces inquiry over decision to cull minks

Demonstrators surrounded the car when it began to move, resulting in police deciding to shield it.

Copenhagen Police told news wire Ritzau that “in connection with the car being moved, it was encircled by demonstrators”.

“In connection with this, a rear light was smashed on the car. It has now been driven away from the location. We are looking further into what happened,” police added.

Two people were arrested as a result of disturbances related to the demonstrations, Copenhagen Police confirmed to Ritzau later on Thursday.

One of the individuals was arrested for breaching laws against violent or threatening behaviour towards service personnel such as police officers, and the other for making offensive remarks.

Frederiksen met a sizeable gathering of demonstrators when she arrived at the court building in Frederiksberg shortly before 9am on Thursday.

One sign held by protestors called for her to be put in prison while also referring to text messages relating to the mink decision that were automatically deleted from the prime minister’s telephone.

Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

Another sign read “Ignorance does not relieve you of responsibility”, referring to the fact the government has argued it did not know the order to cull mink had no legal basis at the time it was issued.

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Frederiksen defended the decision to cull the minks on Thursday as she arrived at the court building.

“I think, generally speaking, that we unfortunately had to make a decision one year ago to cull all mink. It was the right decision. I will now go in and answer the questions that are asked,” she said.

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MINKS

Denmark ejects mink breeders from compensation committees 

Mink fur breeders in Denmark will no longer influence the amount paid out in compensation to fellow breeders whose farms were closed during the Covid pandemic, the government has said.

Denmark ejects mink breeders from compensation committees 

Mink fur breeders will no longer participate on committees which decide how much compensation to award other mink breeders, agriculture minister Jacob Jensen confirmed to broadcaster DR on Thursday.

The government set aside billions of kroner for compensation to mink breeders after ordering all fur farm minks be destroyed in late 2020, over concerns related to Covid-19 mutations in the animals. The order to destroy the minks was later found to be illegal in a major scandal for the government.

Recent reports by media Zetland have described how the breeders have gained influence over the compensation through their presence on the committees.

“We don’t think there should be direct representation on the commissions,” Jensen told DR.

READ ALSO: Danish mink fur breeders received ‘too much compensation’

The change in practice will require a formal agreement between the government and the opposition parties who agreed to the mink breeder compensation programme, but this is not expected to present an obstacle.

A review of 27 compensation cases by Zetland found that mink fur breeders had the highest representation of any professional group involved in the commissions, whose remit is to decide the amount to award individual breeders in compensation.

Not including independent chairpersons, 7 out of 10 commission members were put up by either the mink fur industry or Landbrug & Fødevarer, the interest organisation for the agriculture sector. Some commission members are waiting for their own claims to be resolved, Zetland reported.

Jensen said he wanted the commissions to have a “better composition”.

That could include judges, economists or others who “have knowledge of the value of property,” he said.

In comments to newswire Ritzau, the chairperson of mink fur interest organisation Kopenhagen Fur, Tage Pedersen, said his “first thought is it’s a shame, because I think we had a good system”.

Changing the existing system means further delays for fur breeders awaiting compensation, while it is the farmers themselves who are in the best position to evaluate the value of a farm, he noted.

“But I also have say that me and my family and all other mink breeders and their families have been harassed so much over the last eight days that we can’t take it anymore. So actually I am also relieved,” he said.

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