The Tamil Case (Danish: Tamilsagen) was a case about

family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

refugees from the Sri Lankan Civil War. The affair led to the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

of the government led by

Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, as well as the first ...

in 1993. The scandal was first uncovered in a series of articles written by Nils Ufer in ''

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscription ...

''. Ufer later dramatized it in the play ''Mens vi venter på retfærdigheden''. (While We're Wating for Justice). He received the

Cavling Prize The Cavling Prize is a prestigious Danish journalist award. It is awarded annually in January to "a journalist or a group of journalists who have shown initiative and talent in the past year." It is generally considered the most prestigious priz ...

for his work on it posthumously in 1992.

Background

The case began in 1987, when the government examined the possibilities of decreasing the number of Tamil family reunifications. Following this, the Minister of Justice Erik Ninn-Hansen decided to stall the advance of family reunification of Tamil refugees. Danish law clearly granted the Tamil refugees the right to

, thus rendering the justice minister's order illegal.

Media

Nils Ufer uncovered the affair in series of articles in ''

''. His articles relied on information from confidential interrogations of civil servants. In 2011, former ''Weekendavisen'' editor-in-chief

Tøger Seidenfaden Tøger Seidenfaden (28 April 1957 – 27 January 2011) was a Danish journalist and political scientist, and, from 1993 until his death, editor-in-chief of the broadsheet newspaper ''Politiken''. His father, Erik Seidenfaden, was also a journali ...

disclosed that Ufer's secret source was Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen. Ufer received the

posthumously for his coverage of the scandal in 1992. He also wrote a five hour long, dramatized monologue '' Mens vi venter på retfærdigheden'' ("While we wait for justice") about the affair. It played at Café Teatret in Copenhagen with Peter Larsen in its only role and was also broadcast on

DR1 DR1 (DR Et) is the flagship television channel of the DR (broadcaster), Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a we ...

in 1992.

Consequences

When the case appeared in the media, several political parties opposed a re-election of Ninn-Hansen, and others demanded an investigation. This ultimately led to his resignation as minister of justice in 1989. Four civil servants in the Ministry of Justice were charged, and the minister of justice was impeached, which led to the resignation of the government in 1993. In 1995, Ninn-Hansen was found guilty in three cases of abuse of power, and received a suspended sentence of four months imprisonment.''Thi kendes for ret. Dokument. Rigsrettens dom over forhenværende justitsminister Erik Ninn- Hansen afsagt 22. juni 1995.'' Weekendavisen, 23.06.1995, 1._sektion, Side 3 The case is well known in Denmark due to an infamous speech given by Prime Minister

, wherein he stated that "nothing has been swept under the rug", which became a common Danish catchphrase. (Der er ikke fejet noget ind under gulvtæppet).

References

1993 in Denmark Political scandals in Denmark Weekendavisen Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora Refugees in Denmark {{Denmark-poli-stub