Østre Landsret has convicted TV 2’s chief executive and a journalist of unlawfully sharing intimate footage of a 90-year-old dementia patient. TV 2 must delete the recordings, but neither person is fined.
DR reports that the High Court found TV 2’s managing director, Anne Engdal Stig Christensen, and journalist Michael Bech Nielsen guilty. The conviction concerns the 2020 documentary “Plejehjemmene bag facaden”. TV 2 confirmed the verdict to Ritzau, and Statsadvokaten i Viborg confirmed it in a notice on Anklager Update.
The case centers on Else, a 90-year-old woman with dementia at the Kongsgården nursing home in Aarhus. The documentary showed her suspended in a ceiling lift while staff waited for her to use a diaper placed on the bed. The court found that sharing intimate scenes and health information about her was unjustified.
Østre Landsret ruled that the disclosure violated section 264d of the Danish Penal Code, which protects private life. As part of the judgment, TV 2 was ordered to remove the offending recordings. The material has been widely discussed in Danish media for years.
Both defendants were acquitted on charges relating to intimate scenes and health information about another resident at a nursing home in Randers. According to the court, that part of the case was time-barred. Despite the guilty verdict, no fine was imposed, because the punishment lapses due to the long case-processing time, Statsadvokaten stated.
Per DR, the presiding judge said other factors also supported letting the punishment lapse. The two were acquitted when the case was heard in the district court last year. Politiken notes that the earlier acquittal has now been overturned on appeal.
TV 2 Nyheder describes the ruling as a ban on showing parts of the Else documentary. The outlet adds that TV 2 has removed the entire documentary from TV 2 Play while it awaits the written judgment. It also recalls that Højesteret upheld an injunction against the hidden-camera footage in 2021.
TV 2 considers appeal
In a written comment, Anne Engdal Stig Christensen called the judgment an intervention in media freedom of information. She said the images cannot be deleted from collective memory, because the documentary created broad debate. She added that it will be harder for journalists to document abuse against citizens who have no voice of their own.
TV 2 says it will study the judgment closely before deciding its next steps. An appeal to Højesteret would require permission from Procesbevillingsnævnet. The current verdict follows the prosecution’s appeal of the 2025 district court acquittal, according to TV 2 Nyheder.
The documentary examined conditions in Danish elder care and was made using hidden cameras. Ekstra Bladet reports that the two individuals avoid fines, while the controversial recordings must be deleted.
