A Copenhagen court ordered on Thursday that the man who is suspected of attacking Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a public square earlier this month would be detained until July 4.
On June 7, while Frederiksen was walking in central Copenhagen, the 39-year-old Polish man is suspected of hitting her, causing a slight whiplash injury.
“The court has decided that the suspect will remain in custody until July 4,” a court official told AFP, following a hearing that lasted less than an hour.
The individual, who was taken into custody right after, has denied any involvement in the incident and claims he doesn’t remember anything.
The 46-year-old Frederiksen’s office states that she was diagnosed with a “contusion on her right shoulder and a minor whiplash injury” following a medical examination.
On Thursday, a medical certificate was brought before the court.According to authorities, Frederiksen and a number of witnesses have been questioned as part of the continuing investigation.
According to Frederiksen’s account of her police interrogation, which was presented to the court on Thursday, the man approached her, shouted something incoherent, and then struck her in the shoulder with a closed fist, the Danish news agency Ritzau reported on Thursday.
Prosecutor Line Steffensen claimed that soon before meeting the prime minister, the inebriated man had stolen booze from a grocery store.
According to Steffensen, the individual had been detained multiple times for shoplifting since relocating to Denmark five years prior.
At 41, Frederiksen was elected in 2019 to become the youngest prime minister in Denmark’s history. 2022 saw her win reelection.
Following the attack, she declared herself “shaken” and skipped the last day of the EU election campaign.
