In its issue for 9-15 May, Asaval-Dasavali newspaper claimed that Danish court decided that 17-year old victim of sexual violence by a Moroccan migrant Nanna Skovmand was criminal.According to the newspaper, during the attack in the town of Sonderborg, Skovmand used a tear gas container in self-defense, carrying which is prohibited in Denmark.
The newspaper’s claim is not true, since the court sentenced not the victim Nanna Skovmand, but the perpetrators of the assault against her. There also are other distortions in this information. Specifically:
- The victim’s age, the place where the incident took place, and the court decision in the article are incorrect. 23-year old Skovmand and her boyfriend were attacked in the morning of 26 December 2014 by three youths not in Sonderborg, but in Copenhagen.
- The attackers did not commit sexual violence, but physically attacked the pair.
- Police arrested the perpetrators. The court sentenced 16 and 19-year old perpetrators to 10 months, and a 17-year old attacker to 1 year in jail.
Nanna Skovmand’s picture is published in the Asaval-Dasavali article, by which its author is trying to underscore the state of a 17-year old victim of the migrant’s sexual violence,but 23-year old Skovmand was not sexually assaulted, while the perpetrators were put into jail by the court.Manipulation with photographs is a method used by Russian-language websites.
As to the incident when tear gas was used, it occurred in the Danish town of Sonderborg in January 2016.17-year old Danish citizen was attacked by an unknown man. In order to defend herself from sexual assault the victim used tear gas, as a result of which the attacker ran away. Due to the Danish laws the victim was fined for 500 Danish crowns, since carrying tear gas is illegal. The Danish court has not sentenced the perpetrator yet, since he is not detained.
There was no instance of sexual violence in the case of Nanna Skovmand, and the perpetrator of the assault on the 17-year old girl was not a migrant. The assault took place near the migrants center in Sonderborg. The attacker spoke English.
This kind of article was first published by a Russian-language Israeli website in January 2016. Distorted reporting on these two incidents by other Russian-language websites began in April 2016 (twopercentdaily.com; news2.ru, politikus.ru, Mylove.ru). They name British DailyMail as the source, but unlike the Russian-language websites the British newspaper reported only the assault in Sonderborg, where the perpetrator is not claimed to be a migrant.
The article published by Asaval-Dasavali and the Russian-language websites is an example of manipulation of facts for xenophobic purposes.
Source:
Asaval-Dasavali, 9-15 May 2016.
“They accused a girl who was a victim of violence in Denmark! Yes, the court of the Danish town of Senerborg fined 17-year old Hana Kovmand, who resisted rapist Moroccan migrants and used tear gas container which is prohibited by the law! And if you look at the Danish girl’s picture closely, you will see how cruelly she had been treated by the assaulters who then were assisted by the Danish court!”
