The court in Odense has issued an injunction against TV2 and the production company “Dokumentarkompagniet ApS”, prohibiting them from showing recordings of animal activists’ illegal intrusion onto the property of Jeppe Bloch Nielsen, chairman of Danish Pig Producers, where his family lives.
The recordings, which were only shown to him long afterwards, show that foreign and unidentifiable persons are inside the barns wearing foreign footwear and without documentation of compliance with hygiene rules. For example, there is a risk that the same people will break into several different herds with lower health status on the same night. Exposing the animals to risks of PRRS infection is specifically punishable.
The case, which Sønderby Legal conducted, was brought by Danish Pig Producers on behalf of Jeppe Bloch Nielsen. According to Dokumentarkompagniet itself, both they and TV2 were unaware of the burglaries, and the film recordings were found on the doorstep. Both have granted source protection to the activists. The court has established that, when weighing the press’s freedom of information and expression on the one hand and Jeppe Bloch Nielsen’s claim to privacy on the other, it must be taken into account that none of the activists were journalists. Jeppe Bloch Nielsen’s interests therefore clearly weigh the heaviest. The recordings were made during a burglary and are illegal.
The wording of the ruling is therefore also unmistakable:
“Dokumentarkompagniet ApS is prohibited from publishing, using, passing on, reproducing, exhibiting or otherwise disseminating image or video recordings originating from the illegal intrusion into Jeppe Bloch Nielsen’s pig herd….”
Likewise, TV2 “…is prohibited from publishing and making available image and video recordings that have been recorded during illegal intrusion into pig herds and barn facilities…”
TV2 and Dokumentarkompagniet must jointly pay the costs of the case. According to TV2, they will appeal the decision.
The prohibition must be followed up with a lawsuit to become permanent.
