The government of Denmark has imposed a ban on those sentenced to life imprisonment from starting new love relationships.
The law aims to curb the phenomenon of the so-called 'groupies' of inmates, fans and enthusiasts who contact the life prisoner on duty in order to get to know him even virtually.
The decision of the Copenhagen executive was made after a case that shocked public opinion, reports the BBC.
A 17-year-old girl, Cammilla Kürstein, fell in love with Peter Madsen, the man convicted of the brutal murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall while on board his submarine to interview him in 2017. The 17-year-old admitted that she fell in love with the killer after they had exchanged letters and phone calls for two years and was also very ill when he got married in prison to 39-year-old Russian Jenny Curpen in 2020.
These kinds of relationships "obviously have to be cut off. Convicted criminals shouldn't use our prisons as dating centers or media platforms to brag about their wrongdoings," said Danish Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup.
The new law states that inmates sentenced to life imprisonment will only be able to contact people with whom they had a relationship for the first ten years of their imprisonment.
Furthermore, posting on social media or communicating through podcasts will also be prohibited. This measure also arose from the case of Madsen, who confessed to the murder of the journalist during the episode of a documentary in 2018.
"We have had disgusting examples in recent years of inmates who have committed abominable crimes and then contacted young people from prison to obtain their sympathy and attention ", underlined the Minister of Justice.
