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Erik Ninn-Hansen (born 1922) is a Danish politician. He served in the Cabinet of Hilmar Baunsgaard, first as Defence Minister, and later as Finance Minister. In the early 1970s he became leader of the Conservative People's Party, but without much success, as the party slumped to its worst-ever results in the 1973 and 1975 elections.
In the 1980s cabinets of Poul Schlüter, Ninn-Hansen served as Justice Minister. It was from this position that he abused the powers vested in him by illegally stalling family reunion applications from relatives to Tamil refugees, known as the Tamil Case. When the story broke in 1989, Ninn-Hansen was forced to resign as cabinet minister. He served as Speaker of Parliament, but as the scope of the scandal increased, he was forced to resign this office as well. An independent inquiry headed by a Supreme Court Judge was set up to investigate the affair in the late 1980s. The resulting report of this committee led to the resignation of the Conservative-Liberal government in 1993.
Later that year, Erik Ninn-Hansen became the first person since 1910 to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours committed as a cabinet minister. In 1995 he was convicted on three charges of abuse of power, and was given a suspended prison sentence. The most important task in the impeachment process had been to establish responsibility for the affair. Ninn-Hansen's advanced age and poor health weighed against a full prison term.
Ninn-Hansen was Minister of Justice when the ministry shelved requests to the French courts to have PFLP prisoners and 6 mio. DKK handed over to the Danish justice system. The two PFLP members had been caught trying to leave France with the money. A Danish money transport had been robbed of a similar amount some time before. Police officers responsible for the investigation were told by the Ministry of Justice to shut up and cease the investigation. Relevant files in the ministry have been destroyed, and Erik Ninn-Hansen can't recall any details.
Ninn-Hansen is no longer associated with politics.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Victor Gram |
Defence Minister of Denmark February 2, 1968 – March 17, 1971 |
Succeeded by Knud Østergaard |
| Preceded by Poul Møller |
Finance Minister of Denmark March 17, 1971 – October 11, 1971 |
Succeeded by Henry Grünbaum |
| Preceded by Ole Espersen |
Justice Minister of Denmark September 10, 1982 – January 10, 1989 |
Succeeded by Hans Peter Clausen |
| Preceded by Svend Jakobsen |
Speaker of the Folketing January 10, 1989 – October 3, 1989 |
Succeeded by Hans Peter Clausen |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Poul Møller |
Leader of the Conservative People's Party 1971–1974 |
Succeeded by Poul Schlüter |
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