Danish PM agrees to meet father of slain Swedish officer

The Danish prime minister has agreed to meet the father of a Swedish police officer who died after an assault in Copenhagen, DR reports. Johan Zedig says the attacker’s one-year prison sentence is not enough.

Zedig’s 32-year-old son, Christian, was struck on the left side of the head or in the neck during a World Cup big-screen event at Islands Brygge in Copenhagen in June. He died a few days later, leaving a wife and two daughters.

The 31-year-old defendant, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to one year in prison for simple assault by Copenhagen City Court two days ago. He was not convicted of murder, attempted murder or aggravated assault.

Zedig said the sentence was difficult to understand. “Twelve months is nothing compared with the lifelong prison sentence that Christian’s mother, his siblings and I are serving,” he told Swedish broadcaster SVT. He invited Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to meet him in Sweden and explain how someone could receive 12 months for taking a life.

Frederiksen accepted the invitation, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. She called the assault “completely senseless” and said, “One year for taking another person’s life. That is not acceptable.” She also said cases of simple assault resulting in death should be punished much more severely when the offender has previous convictions for violent crime.

The prosecutor said the court assessed the typical danger of the attack rather than its consequences, adding that a punch is typically not dangerous. The court also treated the defendant’s aggressive and confrontational behaviour at the event, and his previous convictions for attempted murder, rape and violence, as aggravating factors.