An Iraqi man granted asylum in Denmark after working as an interpreter for Danish troops has been told he must choose between the two wives he brought with him.
“We gave him until May 26 to divorce one of his two wives, otherwise we will take the necessary measures to put an end to this situation of bigamy, which is illegal in Denmark,” Malene Vestergaard of the Justice Ministry’s family affairs section said today.
The woman he divorces will however be able to remain in Denmark, “since the interpreter and his two wives were individually granted residency permits in Denmark to protect them from possible acts of retaliation in Iraq,” the official said.
The case, widely reported in the Danish media, has had political repercussions, with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen pressed to take a stand on the issue.
“In my opinion, bigamy is not acceptable and is against the law” in Denmark, he said last week.
Islam allows men to take up to four wives.
The Danish government decided in 2007, when it withdrew its troops from Iraq, to evacuate the Danish army’s Iraqi interpreters and their families.
Marine Voelund, a lawyer for the Iraqi man, told the Danish television TV2 News that her client was “very unhappy,” but that he would choose one of the women.
“He doesn’t intend to take the case to the courts,” she added.
Loading ...
