Denmark has dropped charges against a former defence minister and a former spy chief over allegations of leaks of classified information, Danish prosecutors said on Wednesday, after court rulings meant top secret evidence would have to become public. Former minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen and former head of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service Lars Findsen had been charged under a rarely used section of the penal code that carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. The charges have been dropped after a series of verdicts in the Supreme Court of Denmark decided that the trial against the former minister would not happen behind closed doors - and therefore classified information could not be shown in court.
Danish prosecution dismissed Wednesday two separate cases against a former defense minister and an ex-head of the country's foreign intelligence service due to the inability to divulge classified information in court. Both were charged with leaking state secrets,
Danish prosecution dismissed Wednesday two separate cases against a former defense minister and an ex-head of the country’s foreign intelligence service due to the inability to divulge classified information in court. Last week, Denmark’s highest court ruled that the two cases which have been shrouded in secrecy, should be made public and sessions were to be closed off whenever sensitive information was presented. In a statement, Denmark’s prosecution authority said that “in the interests of the state’s security, it is no longer safe to make highly classified information available in criminal proceedings.”
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