During the first ten years of imprisonment, persons sentenced to life imprisonment in Denmark shall only be allowed to have contact with persons who are already close relatives, according to the Government's bill.

It is intended to prevent prisoners from initiating new love relationships and dating in prison.

The proposal also means that it will be forbidden for convicted prisoners to write freely about crime on social media and to talk about their crime in, for example, podcasts.

The bill was sent to committee this week, and appears to have broad political support.

This is justified by the fact that greater consideration must be given to crime victims and relatives, according to the news agency Ritzau.

Madsen can be stopped

The background to the tightening is, among other things, the convicted murderer Peter Madsen's previous relationship with a teenage girl, and if the law becomes a reality, Madsen would be stopped from meeting his wife, whom he married in Herstedvester prison in 2019.

Some critics say that the ban restricts the prisoners' privacy too much and that it can raise questions about censorship.

Bo Yde Sørensen, head of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service's union, tells Ritzau that he thinks the government should instead invest in having enough staff in prisons and that there is enough space for all prisoners.

"Prisoners of life will eventually also be released into society and therefore isolation is not a good idea," he has previously told Danish TV2.

Madsen's wife: Example of sexism

Another critic of the proposal is Peter Madsen's wife, reports Kvällsposten.

"This restriction also violates the rights of innocent people who are willing to have a relationship with prisoners.

It is also an example of clear sexism - the state dares to rule over women.

How is it possible in 2021 in one of the most free countries in the world ", she writes in a letter to the newspaper.

The bill originally comes from the Danish People's Party and is expected to enter into force at the beginning of next year.

Police press conference after Peter Madsen tried to escape from prison in October 2020.

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Prison chief Hanne Høegh Rasmussen at a press conference.

Photo: TT