Appeals court gives Vibeke Manniche suspended sentence over Covid certificates

Vibeke Manniche has been sentenced to 20 days in prison, suspended, for issuing certificates exempting people from Covid-19 tests without authorisation, DR reported. The Eastern High Court found the doctor guilty of violating section 131 of Denmark’s Criminal Code.

The case concerns about 20 certificates Manniche issued in 2021. Prosecutor Line Scharf said Manniche is a trained doctor but is not authorised to practise medicine or have contact with patients.

Manniche denied the charges. She said the documents were declarations made on personal responsibility, not medical certificates, and that people had contacted her to request them. She also said she charged for preparing the documents.

A court in Lyngby sentenced her to the same suspended term in late 2024, finding her guilty under different provisions. The High Court ruled that she had not performed a public function, as required for one of those offences, but had acted without authorisation under section 131.

The prosecutor said there was no evidence Manniche had presented herself to anyone as a doctor, so she was not convicted under the law governing the authorisation to practise medicine. The prosecutor had sought an additional fine of 50,000 kroner, but Manniche was not fined.

The sentence was suspended because she had no previous convictions and the case had taken a long time, the prosecutor said. Her lawyer said Manniche and her defence team would consider whether to take the case to the Supreme Court.