TV 2 director and journalist convicted over nursing home documentary

TV 2’s chief executive and a journalist have been convicted of unlawfully sharing intimate images and personal information about an elderly nursing home resident, DR reported. The broadcaster has also been ordered to delete the recordings.

The Eastern High Court found TV 2 chief executive Anne Engdal Stig Christensen and journalist Michael Bech Nielsen guilty in connection with the 2020 documentary “Nursing homes behind the facade”.

The recordings concern Else, a 90-year-old woman with dementia who lived at Kongsgården nursing home in Aarhus. The documentary showed her hanging in a ceiling lift while staff waited for her to defecate in a pad placed on the bed.

“It hurts. Now you have to stop. Ow, ow, ow, ow,” the woman is heard saying.

The court ruled that sharing intimate scenes and health information about the resident was unjustified and violated Section 264d of Denmark’s Criminal Code.

Both defendants were acquitted of charges concerning intimate scenes and health information about another elderly resident at a nursing home in Randers. The court found that those charges were time-barred.

Although they were found guilty in the case involving Else, neither defendant will receive a fine. The prosecution had sought fines, but the punishment was waived because of the long processing time, according to the State Prosecutor’s Office in Viborg. TV 2 said the presiding judge also cited other factors supporting the decision to waive the sentence.

The two were acquitted when the case was heard by a district court last year.

Christensen said in a written comment that she considered the ruling an interference with the media’s freedom to provide information.

“These are images that cannot be erased from our collective memory because the documentary created so much debate and impact. It will become more difficult for journalists in future to convey and document important stories about abuses against people who cannot speak up against the system themselves,” she said.

Christensen added that she would always fight for free and independent media to expose reality. TV 2 will study the ruling closely before considering its options. An appeal to the Supreme Court would require permission from the Appeals Permission Board.