The formal charge sheet against the man, who is a Polish national states that the assault was motivated by Frederiksen’s “legal statements in the public discourse”.

The man is being prosecuted for punching the PM on her right shoulder as she walked across the Kultorvet square in central Copenhagen on June 9th.

He is charged on paragraph 119 part 7 of the criminal code, which relates to violence against public servants in the course of their duty, and can also be applied in cases where police officers, for example, are attacked.

The prosecutor also refers to paragraph 81 part 7, however. This adds an aggravating element to the overall charge, which could result in a longer sentence.

The paragraph states that the sentence should account for the aggravating circumstance that the assault “has a background in the victim’s legal statements in public discourse”.

Frederiksen was assaulted just before 6pm at Kultorvet on June 7th when reportedly on the way to meet a friend for coffee. She was accompanied by bodyguards but they were unable to prevent the attacker from reaching her.

Police reported the man appeared intoxicated at the time while Frederiksen, in statements to the police, said he uttered something unintelligible at the moment of the attack.

Prosecutors are asking for him to be deported from Denmark and banned from returning for six years.

He denies the charges, according to earlier reports.

Frederiksen will not be called as a witness in the trial by the prosecution, but the defence could still elect to take this step.

The trial is scheduled for August 6th and 7th at Copenhagen City Court.