JAKARTA - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who faces an investigation into the country's mink killings last year, denied knowing that the government did not have the legal authority to order the action.
In response to the increasing spread of the coronavirus from mink to humans, including a new, mutated variant, Frederiksen's Social Democrat government last year ordered the country's 17 million mink killed.
The government later admitted it had no legal authority to kill a herd of healthy minks, only those infected with the coronavirus, which led to the resignation of the agriculture minister.
The Danish parliament launched an inquiry in December into whether other ministers including Frederiksen knew about it, but ignored the false legal basis for the order.
"What motive should the government have for not revealing its lack of legal basis? Let me be clear: I don't know," PM Frederiksen told a news conference, offering his most detailed defense so far.
Before the massacre, which devastated the industry, Denmark was the world's largest producer of high-quality mink leather, a favorite in the fashion industry for its silky softness. Opposition lawmakers accused the prime minister of deliberately opposing the investigation.
Investigators wanted to review the text messages sent by Frederiksen and officials at his office, but said the messages had been deleted because officers set their phones to delete texts after 30 days. The Ministry of Justice is working with the police to recover the message.
"Will the text messages show anything new about my knowledge of my lack of legal basis? No, they won't," said Frederiksen.
Please note that the investigation, which will see PM Frederiksen stand on 9 December, will present its conclusions in April.
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