Copenhagen 1992
Giorgina Makara
The 1992 Copenhagen bombing (Danish: Sllerdgadebomben) refers to a bomb explosion in the offices of the International Socialists (IS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The blast and a resulting fire destroyed the office and killed 29-year-old Henrik Christensen. It has been presumed to be a political attack, but no one has been convicted.
The small Danish far-left organisation International Socialists (IS) had an office in Sllerdgade, Nrrebro, Copenhagen where about 20 local members were based. Henrik Christensen was one of the IS members there. The bomb exploded around 11:30 am, shortly after Christensen had met fellow partymate Jrgen Lund on the street, presumably after receiving mail. Christensen died from the blast but Lund survived.[1][2]
The attack was a major case for the Danish police and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET). The office fire and extinguishing water damaged traces of evidence and the authorities have been unable to identify the culprits. Detectives have believed that the explosive may have been a letter bomb.[3] Assistance from the British Scotland Yard found no detailed conclusion about the bomb, only that it consisted of TNT.[4] As a result, the case remains unclear.
The IS immediately assumed that neo-Nazis were responsible.[5] Some months before the bombing, neo-Nazis and Danish and Swedish anti-racists clashed during a demonstration in Lund. One theory from the detectives was that the bomb was an act of revenge from the neo-Nazis.[6]
In 1998, Frede Farmand, an autodidact journalist known for his controversial investigations of neo-nazi and sect-like groups, claimed on television that he had been aware of a bomb plot and warned the Danish intelligence about it in 1992. Farmand claimed ties to Albert Larsen, a member of the neo-Nazi Partiet de Nationale.[clarification needed] Larsen was questioned by PET and acknowledged having infiltrated left-wing groups but denied knowledge of the bomb.[9]
On 27 April 2013, a former neo-Nazi, Kim Fredriksson, said to Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet he had information about the attack. According to Fredriksson, a now-deceased Danish-German member, referred to only as 'MS' from the Blood & Honour network, probably orchestrated the bombing.[10][11][12] MS was briefly jailed in 1994 after police found TATP explosives in his apartment. He died in 2001 having suffered from cystic fibrosis.[13] Based on this new information, the Copenhagen police force reopened the case.[14]
Danmarks Radio sent a radio documentary in five parts about the incident in 2019.[15] Initially, the reporter of the documentary openly declared that she had known the case first-hand since childhood and until now had believed right-wing extremists were behind the bomb, and that the police investigation had been flawed. Left-wing sources in the documentary claimed police had defined three hypotheses from the beginning of the investigation: The bomb could have been constructed by the victim himself and exploded by a mistake, or part of an internal strife between left-wing factions, or it could be an attack by right-wing extremists. Neonazi sources were also interviewed and claimed the clashes between them and left-wing fractions had been scattered and far from enough to cause retaliation in the form of bombs, and that right-wing groups were usually the ones being attacked by antifascists. The documentary also mentions that, according to police, IS had a meeting with the Irish Republican Army in February 1992.
However, the retired police officer who had been leading the investigation said that a three-point hypothesis never existed and the investigation had been completely open to all possibilities, but ended blindly. As an unresolved murder case, it is still sealed, and the reporter could not be granted access to files.
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The majority of homicides in the world are caused by firearms and a good understanding of gunshot wounds is important for the forensic pathologist. We have analyzed all 315 homicides by gunshots in Denmark during 1992-2016 with focus on information relevant to forensic pathologists. Of the 1417 homicides in Denmark in 1992-2016, 315 (22.2%) had gunshot trauma as the primary homicide method. During 1992-2016, there has been a significant decrease in the number of gunshot homicides overall, of homicides committed with hunting weapons, and of domestic gunshot homicides. Most victims (70.5%) and offenders (93.7% of homicides with known offenders) were males. Male victims were significantly younger than female victims. Most victims were killed with handguns (43.8%) or shotguns (41.0%). Compared to all other weapons, the victims killed with shotguns had fewer entry wounds, a higher New Injury Severity Score (NISS), and a higher proportion of contact/close-range entry wounds. The head (58.1%) and thorax (46.7%) were often injured, with injuries to the head being more common in contact/close-range entry wounds. The results show that gunshot injuries in homicides are different from suicides and accidents and clearly are affected by the homicide type, the sex of the victim, and the weapon used and that these entities are intertwined. Our findings provide an evidence-based foundation for use in death investigations and for policy development in the area of interpersonal violence.
Denmark won Euro 1992 despite having not qualified for the competition in the first place. They were granted entry less than a fortnight before the tournament after Yugoslavia were banned from participating by UEFA due to the war in their country.
Denmark were not sufficiently prepared for the tournament, although the idea that all the players were on their holidays is slightly exaggerated. A couple had been taking a short break, but the Danish league campaign finished only two weeks before the opening match and the national side were scheduled to play a friendly against CIS, the short-lived replacement for the Soviet Union, a week before the Euros.
Richard Moller Nielsen was not a popular figure going into the tournament. A defender who had earned two Denmark caps three decades earlier, Nielsen had won two championships in his home country as a manager but had also been assistant to Sepp Piontek, the national coach.
His methods were so defensive that Michael Laudrup, the greatest player at his disposal and surely the greatest Danish footballer ever, walked away from the national side, saying he would refuse to play until Nielsen was replaced as manager. His brother, Brian, also quit. Clearly, this made Nielsen unpopular across the country.
Denmark used a 5-3-2 and had for several years, although there were some crucial tweaks as the tournament progressed. After they started with a tedious 0-0 against England and a 1-0 defeat against hosts Sweden, Nielsen dropped misfiring striker Bent Christensen and brought in attacking midfielder Henrik Larsen.
This proved important for two reasons. First, Larsen scored the opener in the surprise 2-1 win over France that sealed qualification for the knockout stage, then another two in the 2-2 draw with Netherlands in the semi-final.
Even after sneaking past the Netherlands in the semi-final on penalties, Denmark were still huge underdogs against Germany. They had a much weaker squad and a day less of rest and still seemed surprised they remained in the tournament.
Germany started much stronger, with Schmeichel forced into action on several occasions throughout the first half. As various Denmark players admitted afterwards, an early concession probably would have been impossible for them to recover from, but then, entirely against the run of play, they took the lead through an unlikely source.
Overall, however, debate concerning refugees and immigrants was not high on the political agenda in the 1970s. The Social Democrat government and the labour movement had, on the whole, a rather sceptical and cautious approach to the subject. They feared that immigration would lead to wages being reduced and that there would be a relatively high need for social assistance amongst immigrants.
In 1977, the Social Democrat government established a cross-party committee with the aim of forming an overview of how immigration, one of the most unregulated areas, could be better managed. The intention was, on the one hand, to create more legal certainty for non-Danes and, on the other, ensure that the authorities could exercise authority over those residing in Denmark.
The committee, which was ultimately not unanimous, issued a report in 1982. The majority suggested that, firstly, a clarification of the rules on residence permits and expulsion should be undertaken, including the humanitarian considerations that could be involved in both cases. Secondly, all expulsions should in future be conducted by the courts instead of the previous practice of the border police (fremmedpolitiet) making decisions in a purely administration process. Thirdly, a refugee appeal court should be set up which would be similar to a court where potential complaints could be dealt with. The minority of the committee had a much more lenient attitude towards the granting of refugee status and family reunification, which should, in their view, be safeguarded through existing legal processes.
On 20th January 1983 the Minister of Justice of the new centre-right government, Erik Ninn-Hansen (1922-2014), put forward a bill for a new Aliens Act. The bill was based on the recommendations made by the majority of the 1977 committee on immigration law, and the Minister did not expect that it would give rise to more than routine adjustments. There remained broad political consensus regarding the cessation of labour immigration, and the beginning of the 1980s was a time when refugees and immigrants were still not high on the political agenda.
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