{"id":10712,"date":"2025-01-22T14:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T13:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=10712"},"modified":"2025-02-04T14:26:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:26:31","slug":"it-is-not-true-that-corruption-in-denmark-is-not-subject-to-criminal-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/it-is-not-true-that-corruption-in-denmark-is-not-subject-to-criminal-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"It Is Not True That Corruption in Denmark Is Not Subject to Criminal Sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Original article<\/em><\/a> (in Serbian) was published on 21\/1\/2025; Author: Teodora Koledin<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter being caught in corruption, a Serbian man in Denmark was placed in a mental institution\u201d, posted the Instagram page Pravni kutak<\/a> (@pravnikutak), attracting numerous comments and reactions on the platform. In the description of the post, Pravni kutak stated that \u201cin Denmark, corruption is not subject to criminal sanctions but is considered a psychiatric disorder\u201d, adding that if you are \u201ccaught engaging in corrupt practices, giving or accepting bribes, you are deemed severely ill and sent directly to a psychiatric clinic for treatment\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This claim seemed suspicious to one of our readers, who reported this controversial post. It turned out that these allegations were indeed false, as confirmed by the Danish Ministry of Justice.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Pravni kutak, the misleading information was provided by Cedomir Cupic, a retired professor from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and former chairman of the Serbian government’s Council for the Fight Against Corruption. On one occasion, Cupic reinforced these claims on Nova S television with an anecdote about \u201cone of our unfortunate compatriots\u201d who allegedly ended up in a psychiatric clinic in Denmark after trying to bribe a Danish civil servant. The same claims were also reported by the web portal Bonitet.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of whether the retired professor was joking or whether the alleged incident involving a Serbian national bribing a Danish civil servant ever occurred, it is important to note that the Danish Penal Code<\/a> does not support Cupic’s claims. Articles 122, 144, and 299 explicitly address criminal sanctions related to corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Articles 122, 144, and 299 of the Danish Penal Code<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 122:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWhoever unjustifiably provides, promises, or offers a gift or other benefit to a person working in Danish, foreign, or international public service or performing a public duty, in order to induce that person to do or refrain from doing something within their service, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of up to six years\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Article 144:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWhoever, while performing Danish, foreign, or international public service or duties, unjustifiably accepts, demands, or agrees to the promise of a gift or other benefit, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of up to six years\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Paragraph 2 of Article 299:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cA fine or imprisonment of up to four years shall be imposed on anyone who, while managing financial affairs for others, accepts, demands, or allows the promise of a gift or other benefit contrary to their duties, as well as anyone who gives, promises, or offers such a gift or benefit\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

*The translation of the Danish Penal Code was provided by our journalists using online tools. There is a possibility that some terms may be inadequately formulated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of corruption in Denmark<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 122 of the Danish Penal Code directly refutes the anecdote mentioned by Professor Cupic. Bribing public officials is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to six years, not by placement in a psychiatric clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Denmark’s corruption rate is indeed low, there are documented cases of corruption that have resulted in prison sentences. For example, in January 2024, a former department head in the Danish National Police was sentenced<\/a> to eight months in prison for corruption.
According to the official website of Transparency International’s Danish branch, similar information about criminal sanctions is provided<\/a>. On the Danish Public Prosecutor’s web portal, updates on court rulings are occasionally published, further confirming the prosecution of individuals accused of corruption. For instance, in September 2024, a former department head at the Danish Armed Forces’ Real Estate Agency received<\/a> a six-month suspended prison sentence for abuse of position and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Response from the Danish Ministry of Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the Danish Ministry of Justice dismissed the controversial claims in the following statement sent to FN Tragac:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese allegations are false. Corruption is a criminal offense in Denmark and is treated as such\u201d, said Ministry spokesperson Rasmus Meldgard. The response emphasized Articles 122, 144, and 299 of the Penal Code, which was previously mentioned, with a note that the same provisions \u201capply to participation or attempts to commit such acts\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to bribery, the Danish Penal Code contains provisions against other corrupt practices such as money laundering, embezzlement, and abuse of authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article (in Serbian) was published on 21\/1\/2025; Author: Teodora Koledin \u201cAfter being caught in corruption, a Serbian man in Denmark was placed in a mental institution\u201d, posted the Instagram page Pravni kutak (@pravnikutak), attracting numerous comments and reactions on the platform. In the description of the post, Pravni kutak stated that \u201cin Denmark, corruption […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[16,58,10,28],"class_list":["post-10712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-corruption","tag-denmark","tag-politics","tag-serbia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10717,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10712\/revisions\/10717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}