Danish prosecutors announced the dropping of charges against former defense minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen and ex-head of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service Lars Findsen. The decision comes after a sequence of Supreme Court verdicts demanded that the trial, which involved highly sensitive information, be conducted publicly, rendering the use of classified evidence infeasible.
Under scrutiny was a scarcely invoked section of the penal code, carrying a potential maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. Both Frederiksen and Findsen have vehemently denied any wrongdoing since the charges were leveled against them.
“The classified information is crucial to the cases. Without the ability to present them in court, the prosecution has no chance to meet the burden of proof,” asserted the Prosecution Authority in a statement justifying the dropping of charges.
While the precise charges remain undisclosed to the public, Frederiksen hinted to local media that they might have been linked to his public remarks about a covert surveillance pact between Denmark and the U.S. National Security Agency.
