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Horsens, 14 December 2010
1/11
Her Majesty Margrethe IIAmaliegade 18PO Box 21431015 CopenhagenYour Majesty
Discrimination, police brutality and questionable legal rights. - Has my country turned me the back...?
In your Majesty's New Year's speech in 2007 You said the following: "This New Year's Eve, I would like toextend a greeting to all the many who through the past lifetime have settled in Denmark. I wish for all of them that every New Year they are here among us, despite all the difficulties, that it will take them further sothat they can see themselves and their descendants as part of Danish society. "You and I both want that for everyone who settles in Denmark. You of course especially want this for themembers of Your own family who have come here out of love and to create a family.Likewise, I strongly want this for my foreign spouse; but since Mario came into my life I have seen thatDenmark has made strong efforts to scare him away - and that my own country also has turned me the back...My name is Gitte Toldsted. I am a 49-year old Danish woman. I'm in the sixth year married to MarioHerrera-Padron. My spouse has now lived in Denmark for five years. He is originally Cuban - and laterbecame an American citizen after coming to U.S. as a political refugee. For different reasons we chose to livein Denmark, where I have lived my whole life. We are family reunificated, and now live in a house inHorsens.I am writing to you because my husband and I have been, and are still, up against powerful forces in ourattempts to create a normal, healthy and good family life in Denmark. For six years we have spent all ourenergy in trying to secure my husband's (and my) legal rights and basic human rights, and it feels so much asan unequal struggle in which politicians and authorities protect themselves and others at the expense of citizens' welfare. It has gradually taken health, hunger for life and belief in a future together in Denmark from us both, and I therefore ask your majesty to help to ensure my spouse - and me too – his rights in thecountry that You reigns.In short, my husband over the last six years has been subjected to repeated discrimination, police violence / torture, violation of legal rights, surveillance and more. We have through all these years addressed (also inwriting) a large number of authorities, institutions, organizations and politicians in Denmark for help.We have addressed to:
•
The American Embassy, both former Ambassador James P. Cain, former Consul Marilynn W.Rowdybush and current Ambassador Laurie S. Fulton
•
Lene Espersen, as then-Justice Minister
•
Anders Fogh Rasmussen as then-Prime Minister
•
MP Anne Baastrup
•
MP Naser Khader
•
MP Anders Samuelsen
•
The Complaint Committee for Ethnic Equality
•
The Documentation Centre for Racial Discrimination
•
KRIM
Horsens, 14 December 2010
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•
Institute for Human Rights
•
Amnesty International
•
The Parliamentary Ombudsman
•
The Police
•
The district attorney / state attorney
•
The Danish Attorney General
•
The European Court of Human Rights
•
IRCT (International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims)
•
RCT (Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims)It sounds nice with democracy, human rights and legislation against discrimination, but in reality it is ourexperience that we are not being listened to, that our rights are violated again and again and that this largelystems from the fact that my spouse is not Danish. My husband has long had the experience that he is notwelcome, that we will "harass" him out of the country, if you will.Mario also find that I let him in the lurch, though I do what I can to resolve the situations he / we gets into, -but I can not change the whole system. - And I am now even left completely in the lurch by the country inwhich I, until there was foreign blood in my family, thought was safe and filled with possibilities. Also I amcoming to the conclusion that our only opportunity to get ahead in life is to move away from Denmark.This request to You from me is a cry for help. You are the last option I can see for to get help to obtain justicefor my husband and to get a dignified life in this country for both him and me.
The Police case – torture and kidnapping1
st
November2006Unclear for what reason, that day Mario was attacked, treated brutally andhumiliating by police in Copenhagen. It is the two police officers Nicolai Cederskjoldand Anders Bitch who makes the unlawful arrest
on Hulgaard Square at noon, when myhusband is on his way home from the dentist.After the violent arrest, where Mario’s shoulder was destroyed, Mario was thrown into acell at the police station, where he was stripped and searched, while 5-6 policemen werepresent and stood around him and made humiliating remarks and laughed at him.Mario asked repeatedly for access to his embassy of the United States of America, a doctor,a lawyer and me, without the police complying with this. It is inconsistent not only withDanish law but also with the
Vienna Convention of 1963 on Consular Relations (Section36a, b and c).
Both Denmark and the United States of America has ratified thisinternational agreement, so this is the very same right all Danish people enjoy and areprotected under, if we live or go to the United States of America or another country.Both my spouse and I the complained against the police. My husband's complaint (attachedas
Appendix 1
) which is dated 9 November 2006, provides a detailed insight into theactual incident.
The police then accused my spouse for - after being arrested - to have threatened twoserving police officers with violence
; and we went to the City Court on 25 June 2007. Theindictment is dated
22 November 2006
, meaning after my husband's complaint.
Horsens, 14 December 2010
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25
th
June 2007 The court meeting was a travesty from beginning to end. From the very start of themeeting the Judge, Niels Foldberg, spoke to my husband in an unnecessaryhumiliating and self-righteous manner, as if Mario had already been convicted
(orrather as if he were a rebellious animal to be put in its place). The same Judge did not giveenough time for interpretation, he talked over the interpretation and after the court meeting,we learned that there were several things Mario had not understood. Among other things,the reading and translation of the ruling was done so fast that Mario only when we gothome, found out that he really should not be in prison but that the sentence was suspended.The Judge,
Niels Foldberg
, also interrupted Mario several times. So there was not roomfor that Mario could have the opportunity to express himself in the way that is his / hiscultures - no respect for a different way than the Danish ... The defense lawyer,
HanneRahbek
, complained to the Judge, telling him that his treatment of the accused were not inorder and that Mario already felt treated very badly.I will call all this discrimination - in line with what the Documentation and AdvisoryCentre on Racial Discrimination's study on discrimination in criminal justice in 2006concludes:"This is quite hard to interpret otherwise than that the enforcement authorities takestougher actions against certain ethnic minorities compared to other groups in society(
http://www.drcenter.dk/html/presse/konklusion_retspl.pdf
) .Also the anthropological report,
E qual justice under the law- A pilot study of treatment of ethnic minorities in criminal cases
- from 2007 is indicating that there are problems withequality in the Danish legal system.(http://www.icj.dk/Publications/Reports/ICJ%20rapport%20om%20diskrimination.pdf
).A representative from the American Embassy was observing the Court Meeting, and byrequest from the Danish defense lawyer,
Hanne Rahbek
, the American Embassy also sentan official complaint about Judge,
Niels Foldberg
. Though they never followed up on thecomplaint, so it had no effect. At the same time there is a big contradiction, because theAmerican Embassy protested about this discrimination act from judge,
Niels Foldberg
, butat the same time they never protested to the Danish authorities why Mario was in this courtcase. That means, they never protested about the illegal arrest, torture and not allowingMario to contact the American Embassy; the latter being a clear violation of the
ViennaConvention on Consular Relations of 1963 (Article 36a, b and c)
.As a fact
one of the laymen judges fell asleep several times
during the court meeting too.
The two policemen who were summoned as witnesses gave conflicting evidence onseveral issues
(even contradictory in relation to the explanation which each of them hadsigned on November 1), and they could not explain the reason for the arrest of Mario.During the procedure the prosecutor's only evidence was the testimonies of the two policeofficers, while Mario’s defense lawyer could present real evidence, for example on theinjuries Mario had suffered, on the contradictory statements of the two police witnessesand the conflicts between what is written in the police report and the indictment held upagainst, what is in the police's written explanation to the American Embassy.In this court the Jens Rasmussen document was hidden to Judge, lay men judges andlawyers, which can only be with the intention to declare Mario guilty. Question: Who was
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