Denmark's justice minister's fiancé assaulted because he's gay.

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Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen's Dominican fiancé Josue Medina Vazquez was attacked physically by a 34-year-old Slovene after leaving a bar. The assailant shouted he couldn't bear gays after he thrust his fist into Vazquez's face. He has already been arrested for the suspicion of "hate crime and violence".
Denmark's minister president Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he was appalled at the incident; everybody should have the right to live their lives the way they want.

https://twitter.com/larsloekke/status/997173819998687232


Josue Medina Vazquez and Søren Pape Poulsen

[Diouf]

Maybe we shouldn't make assumptions about what happened before any evidence or court sentence. The incident took place at 03.30 outside LA Bar in Central Copenhagen. Perhaps there will be video evidence at some point

The accussed is a 34-year old Slovak, who works as a lawyer in Warsaw. He is in Denmark watching Ice Hockey World Championships. He claims Josue Vazquez started the fight, and that he didn't say anything regarding sexuality. He remains in custody due to the charge about violence, not the hate crime part.

Josue Vazquez himself was arrested in January this year for drunk driving. Workers at a Burger King restaurant called the police after an obviously drunk Vazquez ordered his food, went to his car and drove on. He was stopped by the police, and his blood alcohol level was measured at 1.25 permille, far above the 0.5 limit.

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The accussed is a 34-year old Slovak, who works as a lawyer in Warsaw.

Slovak or Slovene? I can't tell them apart, either.  

[Diouf]

First update from court hearings, according to Ekstra Bladet:

The charge has been lowered to "simple assault". The charge for "hate crime" has been dropped due to lack of evidence.

Vasquez says that he does not remember any contact with the suspect, before what he claims was a hard hit with the fist at the right side of his face and the comment "I don't like homos".

The Slovak claims Vasquez offered him shots twice at the bar and talked for a while, and then later entered into a brawl outside with Vasquez hitting him first.

Evidence so far: The two are seen standing close to each other inside at the bar (albeit no conclusive evidence of contact). The camera outside shows Vasquez leaving, the Slovak and a few friends leaving shorly after, walking quickly after Vasquez and spitting after him. A bouncer nearby claims to have seen the Slovak hit Vasquez, but did not see the whole incident nor hear any homo comment (why that charge was dropped). Hospital checks shows a swelling right cheekbone on Vasquez.

The Slovak remains in custody for 14 additional days.

[Diouf]

The Slovak's wife has given an interview to Danish newspaper BT:

She is pregnant with the couple's third child, and says that she fears the stress from the case will her affect her pregnancy. She says that Vasquez tries to hit on her husband, but that he had to reject him in a harder and harder way. She states that "There is no justice in Denmark. The only reason why he is still in jail is because the other guy is the justice minister's boyfriend. His maximum possible sentence is 30 days, and now he will end up sitting behind bars in 52 days until the case is settled. It is outrageous".

https://www.bt.dk/krimi/hustru-til-voldstiltalt-papes-kaereste-lagde-an-paa-min-mand

[DavidB.]

The Slovak's wife has given an interview to Danish newspaper BT:

She is pregnant with the couple's third child, and says that she fears the stress from the case will her affect her pregnancy. She says that Vasquez tries to hit on her husband, but that he had to reject him in a harder and harder way. She states that "There is no justice in Denmark. The only reason why he is still in jail is because the other guy is the justice minister's boyfriend. His maximum possible sentence is 30 days, and now he will end up sitting behind bars in 52 days until the case is settled. It is outrageous".

https://www.bt.dk/krimi/hustru-til-voldstiltalt-papes-kaereste-lagde-an-paa-min-mand

Very mature to get into a bar brawl when your wife is pregnant with your third child. "He was hitting on me" is often used as a usually made-up excuse for homophobic violence; not saying that was the case here, but it's not too convincing a defense either... And somehow I doubt that the Danish justice system is so corrupted that the Minister of Justice gets to decide on how long suspects remain in jail, without checks and balances and the like.

[Diouf]

Sentence today: 40 days prison for violence for the Slovakian (and he cannot go to Denmark for six years). Since he has already been in jail for 50 days, he can now go home to Poland (and get some compensation for the extra days, he spend in jail). He hasn't decided yet whether he will appeal the sentence, but has lodged a formal complaint about him being jailed for 50 days in a case where the sentence was always going to be fairly short.

[Diouf]

The Slovakian lawyer has decided to appeal the case, so it will be tried again at a higher court