Facts

Mr. Jersild, a journalist, had conducted and edited a TV interview with members of a group of young people, calling themselves "the Greenjackets", who made abusive and derogatory remarks about immigrants and ethnic groups in Denmark during the interview.

Later, Mr. Jersild was convicted of aiding and abetting

Aiding and abetting

Criminal=Aiding and abetting is an additional provision in United States criminal law, for situations where it cannot be shown the party personally carried out the criminal offense, but where another person may have carried out the illegal act as an agent of the charged, working together with or...

 "the Greenjackets".

Judgment

The court held by twelve votes to seven, that Denmark violated Article 10 ECHR (freedom of expression), stressing that the applicant’s conduct during the interviews clearly dissociated him from the persons interviewed (Para. 34).

Judges Ryssdal

Rolv Ryssdal

Rolv Einar Rasmussen Ryssdal was a Norwegian judge.From 1969 to 1984 he was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court...

, Bernhardt, Spielmann and Loizou expressed a dissent, stating that it was absolutely necessary to add at least a clear statement of disapproval (Para. 3). Judges Gölcüklü, Russo and Valticos have filed a shorter dissenting opinion, stating that the journalist responsible for the broadcast in question made no real attempt to challenge the points of view he was presenting, which was necessary if their impact was to be counterbalanced.

External links

• ECHR judgment