Søvndal wants spy trial held in private

Foreign minister says accused professor should be tried behind closed doors

The foreign minister, Villy Søvndal (Socialistisk Folkeparti), wants to see the upcoming trial of Finnish professor Timo Kivimäki held behind closed doors. The one-time Copenhagen University professor is accused of co-operating for many years with Russian agents operating in Denmark. Kivimäki maintains he is innocent.

Søvndal has requested that the case be tried behind what are called 'double-locked doors', meaning that no information will be released to the public. Søvndal reportedly does not want the details of the case to become public for fear of damaging Denmark’s relationship with Russia and for fear that sensitive national security information could be compromised during testimony. A majority of those in parliament seem to agree with the foreign minister.

“It makes perfect sense to close the doors in this situation,” Dansk Folkeparti’s foreign affairs spokesperson Søren Espersen told Jyllands-Posten. “We should not damage our relationship with Russia, who will be a significant partner in the future.”

According to reports in Politiken newspaper, the Justice Ministry, which will conduct the trial, tried in vain to convince the Foreign Ministry to keep it public.

When the proceedings get under way, the prosecuting lawyer, Gyrithe Ulrich, will request that  Kivimäki’s trial be held in private “in the interest of national security and relationships with a foreign government".

For his part, Kivimäki said that he has already gone public with what he told the Russians, so there is no reason for all of the secrecy. His lawyer, Anders Nemeth, also wants the doors opened.

"I find the request that the case should be tried behind closed doors completely unreasonable,” Nemeth told Politiken. “I plan to protest.”

Jørn Vestergaard, a professor of criminal law at Copenhagen University, said the prosecutor may have solid reasons for trying the case secretly.

“First, you do not want to compromise the relationship with Russia unnecessarily, and you do not want to reveal the security agency’s [PET's] methods. No matter what the defendant may say, there still could be very much at stake for the authorities.”

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