Aarhus Court where the sentences where the young criminals received their sentences. (Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix)
A 19-year-old Filipino man has been sentenced to one year in prison and expelled from Denmark for his role in a series of violent crimes against prostitutes in Aarhus. The verdict was handed down by the Court in Aarhus and announced on Monday 30 June.
The case involved four young men convicted of rapes and robberies committed in early 2024 against women who had recently arrived in Denmark to work as prostitutes. The crimes occurred in apartments where the women were staying.
In addition to the Filipino national, two Afghan men, aged 19 and 20, were sentenced to eight and four years in prison respectively and also expelled from Denmark.
A 19-year-old Danish citizen was sentenced to six years in prison.
The court found that three of the accused had raped the women in connection with the robberies. One of the rapes was classified by the court as particularly dangerous.
The prosecution had argued that the attacks should be treated as aggravated home robberies, which carry stricter penalties. However, the jury did not reach majority agreement on this point.
Three of the four convicted men have appealed their sentences. The fourth is still considering whether to do so.
Source: Ritzau
Background information
Denmark began formally implementing the policy of expelling foreign nationals convicted of crimes in the 1990s, but the legal foundation was strengthened significantly with the Aliens Act (Udlændingeloven) being amended over time to make expulsion mandatory or automatic in more cases.
Key developments:
1997: The rules were tightened to allow for easier expulsion of foreigners convicted of serious crimes.
2007: The Danish government introduced “stramninger” (tightenings) to immigration policy, making it more common to expel foreign criminals after serving their sentence.
2010 onwards: A “three-strikes” rule and tougher sentencing guidelines made it increasingly likely that foreign nationals would be expelled after committing even medium-severity crimes.
2019: New rules required judges to give very strong reasons for not expelling a convicted foreigner, shifting the burden significantly toward automatic expulsion unless special circumstances applied.
Denmark has had legal authority to expel criminals for decades, but expulsion became the norm rather than the exception especially from 2010 onward, driven by political pressure to reduce foreign crime and toughen immigration enforcement.
Source: ChatGPT