Spitting is no way to settle political differences. That was the ruling of a Frederiksberg court yesterday, when it fined a 35-year-old woman 4,000 kroner for spitting on Pia Kjærsgaard, the leader of right-wing party Dansk Folkeparti (DF).
Public broadcaster DR reported that the woman was found guilty of spitting on Kjærsgaard, but avoided the prosecution’s wish for 14 days in jail because the gob of spit missed the DF leader’s face.
The incident occured while Kjærsgaard was giving a live television interview while attending a Dolly Parton concert at Forum on August 25 last year. According to TV2 News, which conducted the interview, the spit hit the network's microphone, and police technicians unsuccessfully attempted to match DNA evidence from the microphone to the 35-year-old woman. Despite the lack of a DNA match, Kjærsgaard testified in court that she was certain of the woman’s identity.
“I am not in doubt for a second that the spit came from her,” Kjærsgaard said in court, according to Ritzau news service.
In an interview with TV2 following the trial, the DF leader said that the woman had clearly overstepped her bounds and violated the principles of democratic debate.
“You should debate with words – people are very, very welcome to do that,” Kjærsgaard said. “That’s the way it is in a democracy. But you can’t use the kinds of methods that she used. Absolutely not. If the bodyguard hadn’t been there, I have a feeling that other things could have happened. I think this young woman should learn that there are some things in life you just don’t do.”
