Camilla Broe

Camilla Broe is the first Danish citizen to be extradited to a country outside the European Union, when she was handed over to the American police after being indicted on 14 counts of drug trafficking. She would have faced a sentence of up to 60 years in prison if she were convicted, but would have served only 6 months in the US before being deported to Denmark to serve another 2 to 8 years.[1][2]

Camilla Broe
Conviction(s)Charges dismissed, released February 25, 2010

The alleged crime

Broe was indicted by a Florida grand jury on 14 counts of drug trafficking. The Danish courts had not been presented with any evidence by the authorities in Florida. Both courts are only ruling whether the United States application for her to be extradited fulfills the formal demands according to the extradition agreement between the two countries.[1]

However, the media published stories from unknown officials claiming that Broe was alleged to have been one of the leaders of a drug smuggling operation which imported some 100,000 Ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to Florida towards the end of the 1990s. According to unnamed sources inside the Florida state attorney office, she was the partner of the head of the operation and not only helped to enlist smugglers, but also laundering the proceeds from the sale of the drugs.[3]

Broe arrived at the United States in 1986 in order to study and then started a relationship with a man whom she later had a daughter with. The boyfriend turned out to be violent and at some point he became involved with the drug market. Allegedly, without her social network and living in a foreign culture (albeit for 4 years) she was not able to end the relationship and, for this reason, her defense is based on the Battered woman syndrome. When the police arrested the boyfriend she fled back to Denmark. At the time of the arrest of her partner the police informed her of the possibility that they may wish to inquire further into her involvement with the drug operations but she was not arrested nor formally charged. Broe is not denying that her boyfriend was involved in the drug market.[4] Additionally, Broe confessed to involvement with arranging the drug couriers' trips.[5]

Her life in Denmark

Camilla Broe and her daughter, from Jacob Orgad aka "Koki" convicted Ecstasy Drug Kingpin , returned to Denmark without any wealth and with no income . Family and friends supported them until she found a job. She is not known to have been involved in any criminal activity while living in Denmark.[6][7]

Timeline

On 7 August 2009, a board of Danish judges decided her case could be heard before the Danish Supreme Court.[3]

She was placed on house arrest with work release until extradition could be processed. However, she was jailed when she appealed the ruling to European Court of Human Rights, the house arrest being changed to incarceration in jail. She was taken to Vestre Fængsel on 10 August 2009. This prison is regarded as very tough compared to the county jail in Elsinore, where she had been detained previously.

Her case has been accepted by the European Court of Human Rights, but it did not stop her from being extradited to Florida.

The family has now created a foundation in order to raise money for her defence because her personal financial situation is not sufficient to provide a legal defense.[8]

She was detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Her inmate number is #82672-004.

Expected trial date was March 2012, but political pressure forced the court to start the trial no later than 14 December 2009.[9]

On 5 January 2010, the judge ruled that the charges were subject to statutes of limitations.[10]

However, on 12 January 2010, the prosecution requested that the case be tried by a higher court authority, informing that a new trial date has been set to 1 March 2010.[11]

On 25 February 2010, the court set her free but - because she entered the US under police escort - she faced charges of immigration violation.[12]

She returned to Copenhagen on 1 March 2010.[13] She had to take a direct flight as international arrest orders had not yet been cancelled.[14]

On 22 March 2010 the appeal court followed the previous rulings and the case against her was dropped.[15]

On 8 February 2013 the court in Lyngby awarded her DKK 701,362.11 for her time spent in Danish jails while she was waiting for the extradition case to be done.[16] If she wants to seek compensation for her time spent in the United States she has to make case in the United States.[16]

On 26 August 2014 decided the Danish Supreme Court that Camilla Broe not be entitled to compensation from the Danish State as conditions for extradition were met. If she wants compensation for her time in prison she must seek it in the United States for the time she spent in prison in Denmark and the US. The decision means that the Danish government never has to pay compensation in extradition cases. The Danish citizen must always seek compensation in the country in where he or she is extradited to.


Date or Period Description
1986Camilla Broe arrives in the United States where she meets her then boyfriend, Jacob Orgad aka "Koki". She becomes a naturalized citizen [17]
1995 to 1998The boyfriend engages in illegal drug smuggling Ecstasy from Europe to Florida. At this stage, the relationship had become violent.[3]
July 2001The police informs her that they consider investigating her unless she testifies against her former boyfriend. She chooses to return to Denmark [18]
March 2003She is secretly charged in Florida [19]
December 2007The police arrest her based on the Danish anti-terrorism laws until the extradition request can be validated.[18]
May 2008After having negotiated the terms of the extradition agreement between Denmark and the United States, the justice department in Denmark accept that she can be extradited if the court system find that the extradition request is in order.[18]
August 2008The Lyngby District Court rules that the human concern as described in the Human rights conventions Denmark has signed outweighs the extradition request from Florida.[1]
July 2009The Eastern High court rule that she should be extradited.[20] She is taken into custody later that day but released a few days later because she does not impose a flight risk.[21]
August 2009Danish Appeals Permission Board denies her case to be heard before the supreme court.[3] This ruling came as a surprise for legal experts in general, which has led some of the public to speculate whether the ruling is political [22]
4 September 2009She was extradited to the United States. A press conference was held at Copenhagen airport before she was turned over to the US Marshals. Two days before the extradition process it was discovered that the charges against her were not valid according to Danish laws, so the prosecution in the United States was allegedly ordered to alter the charges.[23] She left Denmark on a commercial Delta Air Lines flight at 11:25.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge, Mark R. Trouville announces the extradition of Camilla Broe, marking the first time a Danish citizen has ever been extradited to the United States.[24]

Broe was taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service in Denmark and transported to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to face U.S. drug trafficking charges. Broe is charged with a fourteen-count superseding indictment handed down on 3 September 2009, in the Southern District of Florida which charges him with importing MDMA, also known as “ecstasy”, into Miami from June 1997, to February 1998.[25]

8 September 2009An Initial Appearance in Federal Magistrate’s court in Miami was held. She was denied bail.[26] Trial date was expected to be 14 December 2009 [9]
16 October 2009The prosecution has asked to delay the trial due to a wedding and the following honeymoon [27]
12 November 2009It was revealed that the Drug Enforcement Administration had her under surveillance in Denmark without notifying Danish authorities which is against the law in Denmark.[28] A scheme to lure her to France where she could be abducted to the United States was prevented by the Danish police.[29]
21 November 2009The defense lawyer presented material to the court that revealed that Camilla Broe approached the authorities once she discovered that the investment company her fiancee ran was a front for a drug smuggling operation.[30] She presented the local police with names of people involved who later were convicted in court for their part in the smuggling ring [30] and was allegedly in the process of making deal to function as an undercover agent to help the authorities further when the investigation was transferred to the federal agency.[31] The federal agency chose to ignore her and made plea bargains with the arrested smugglers she had turned in to frame her instead.[31]
1 December 2009A DEA agent testified in court that it was the minister of Justice in Denmark Lene Espersen, who allowed the extradition process to start.[32] However the Ministry of Justice of Denmark and Lene Espersen herself denied they aided the extradition process.[33]
Documentation showed that the now 42-year-old Broe was facing six years in prison for allegedly smuggling 160,000 ecstasy pills into Florida in 1998. The prosecutor’s evidence also showed that US authorities had considered Broe a fugitive and had attempted to find her and bring her back to the US for trial. Camilla Broe and her lawyers had been hoping to have her trial on charges of drug smuggling dismissed in the US, claiming the charges were subject to statutes of limitations and that the State of Florida authorities dawdled with the case But after allowing the defence’s challenge on those grounds, the judge ruled that the case against the Dane will go on as scheduled, after the prosecution presented evidence contradicting the defence’s assertions.[34] However, other news channels report that it is not decided whether the trial should take place at all.[35]
A spokesperson for the Minister of Justice has stated that the DEA agent has committed Perjury by claiming that the Danish authorities urged to go forward with the extradition process. As result the parliament has demanded a hearing, which could result in vote of confidence. It could mean that the minister of justice should step down for his co-operation with foreign authorities [36]
29 December 2009The defense asked for the trial to be delayed for 40 days. At the same time the prosecution denied to show the communication between the prosecution and the Danish ministry of justice as they do not want the testimony by the DEA tested.[37]
5 January 2010The judge ordered the trial to start as planned on 11 January 2010 despite not having ruled whether the charges are too old. She has been urged to plead guilty to at least something due to the costs of the trial.[38] However 6 January 2010 the judged ruled that the charges were subject to statutes of limitations and she was basically exonerated of all charges,[10] however the prosecution appealed the decision [39]
12 January 2010A hearing took place in the Danish parliament based on the statement made by the DEA agent during the pre-trial, in order to expose whether the Danish authorities forced the DEA to seek her extradition. The present Minister of Justice - Brian Mikkelsen denied any involvement by the Danes. Any Danish minister who lies to the parliament during hearings risks being put on trial, so Mikkelsen's statement undermines the statement given by the DEA agent [40]
2 February 2010It was reported that she is near bankruptcy which could mean that she would have to confess to some crimes as the level of public funded defense is very low [41]
25 February 2010After considering the appeal the judge set her free but criticized the prosecution of having placed in a poor position regarding the immigration rules.[42] She is risking further detention until the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can deport her.[12]
26 February 2010She was set free pending the appeal and was allowed to return to Denmark. However she facing difficulties finding a flight home [43]
22 March 2010The appeals court affirmed the previous rulings and the charges against her were dismissed.[15]

The extradition agreement

In December 2007 Denmark and the United States entered an agreement about the terms of extradition between Denmark and the United States. Some points of interest are:

  • No later than 6 months after the sentence is handed out, the Danes must return to Denmark to serve their sentences.
  • The length of the trial has no limits.
  • The Danes will be given a new sentence based on Danish sentence limit upon their return to Denmark

Critics of this agreement claim that it motivates the extradited Danes to plead No contest as they probably will be released when returning to Denmark because charges like conspiracy, obstruction of justice are not punishable by Danish law. Second, the trial in Florida is estimated to last 5–7 years in Florida if she is trying to get acquitted, because the witnesses could be difficult to find because most of them have served out the sentence they got in return for testifying against her, and are now living in other countries.[44]

Also, the length of the sentence is different. In Denmark "manddrab" (manslaughter) is the term used by the Danish penalty law to describe the act of intentionally killing another person. No distinction between manslaughter and murder exists. The penalty goes from a minimum of five years (six years in the case of regicide) to imprisonment for life (which in Denmark seldom results in more than 16 years' imprisonment).

Public reaction

Many citizens are concerned about the alleged political deal and regard the trial in Florida as a show trial,[45] but some, like the former editor of Ekstrabladet and adviser for the Minister for Family and Consumer Affairs Lars Barfoed, Karen Thisted had made critical and political comments about her actions.[46]

A book was scheduled to be published in 2010. It remains unclear whether some of the profit will benefit the defence but Denmark has no Son of Sam law as it is considered fair in the Danish culture to get a balanced view of criminal cases.[47]

Agencies providing counselling to possible future exchange students now use this case as example of the possible dangers student could risk facing unless they have an exit-plan ready so they can escape home fast if they learn or just witness criminal activity while living abroad.[48] It is expected that the case will have a lasting effect of lowering the number of young Danes who choose to study or work abroad.

See also

References
  1. US extradition application denied, by Julian Isherwood, Politiken, 25 August 2008
  2. Camilla Broe will be jailed in Denmark, KAROLINE A. MARKHOLST, BT, 3 September 2009
  3. Danish woman facing extradition to U.S., by Julian Isherwood, Politiken, 7 August 2009
  4. Camilla Broe – The Danish Faye Copeland Archived 2011-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ordinary Dane blog, 11 August 2009
  5. Camilla Broe tilstår, Ekstra Bladet, 11 November 2009
  6. Camilla Broes udlevering sat i bero, by Jens Ehlers, Jyllandsposten, 10 July 2009
  7. Terrorloven forfølger normale mennesker, by Asger Møller, knowncrimes.dk, 8 August 2009
  8. "Camilla Broe Foundation". Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  9. Norton, Carsten (28 September 2009). "Camilla måske ude inden jul" [Camilla perhaps out before Christmas] (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 31 Aug 2016.
  10. Sagen mod Camilla Broe droppes Archived 2010-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, by ptho, TV2 News, 6 January 2010
  11. Camilla Broe bliver ikke løsladt Archived 2010-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, by Kaare Sørensen, jp.dk, 12 January 2010
  12. Camilla Broe acquitted, but stuck in US Archived 2010-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, RC News, The Copenhagen Post, 26 February 2010
  13. Camilla Broe er landet i Danmark, Berlingske Tidende, 1 March 2010
  14. Føljetonen om Camilla Broe fortsætter, by Jens Noergaard Larsen, Danish Radio, 28 February 2010
  15. Camilla Broe slipper for nok en retssag, Berlingske Tidende, 22 March 2010
  16. Narkoudleveret Camilla Broe får erstatning, Denmarks Radio, 8 February 2013
  17. Udvist mor: Jeg vil have en ende på sagen, Anni Kristensen and Jens Ehlers, Jyllandsposten, 2 July 2009
  18. Domstol afviser Camilla Broe, by Jacob Gyldenløve, Denmarks Radio, 12 August 2009
  19. Her er Camillas plageånd, by Mikkel Selin, Heine Jørgensen and Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet, 24 August 2009
  20. Florida wins extradition case, by Julian Isherwood, Politiken, 2 July 2009
  21. Camilla Broe løsladt fra fængsel, by jely / japi, TV2, 7 July 2009
  22. Forsvarer kritiserer nævn, Berlingske Tidende, 7 August 2009
  23. Broes skæbne afgøres i aften, by Jely, TV2 news, 3 September 2009
  24. Drug Enforcement Administration Extradites Danish Woman, First Dane Extradited to the United States Archived 2009-09-08 at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration press-release
  25. Indictment, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration press-release
  26. Drug suspect in Miami is 1st Dane extradited to US, Miami Herald, 9 September 2009
  27. Camilla Broe må vente på anklagers bryllup, Fyens StiftsTidende, 16 October 2009
  28. Amerikanerne overvågede Camilla i Danmark, by Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet, 12 November 2009
  29. USA ville lokke Camilla Broe i fælde, Ekstra Bladet, 12 November 2009
  30. Norton, Carsten (21 November 2009). "Camilla Broe tilstår" [Camilla Broe confesses] (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 31 Aug 2016.
  31. Camilla skulle bruges som lokkedue, by Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet, 21 November 2009
  32. Lene E bag udlevering af Broe, TV2 News (Ritzau), 1 December 2009
  33. Lene E afviser pres i Broe-sag, by Mette Gerlach, Denmarks Radio, 2 December 2009
  34. Judge: Broe trial will go forward Archived 2010-08-11 at the Wayback Machine, The Copenhagen Post, 8 December 2009
  35. Anklager borer i Broes hjemrejse, TV2 News, 8 December 2009
  36. Åbent samråd om Camilla Broe-sagen, Homepage of the Danish parliament
  37. Camilla Broe: udsæt min sag, by Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet, 29 December 2009
  38. Camilla Broe-sagen går nu i gang, by Claus Fahrendorff, DRs korrespondent, Denmarks Radio, 5 January 2010
  39. USA appellerer sagen mod Camilla Broe, Denmarks Radio News, 12 January 2010
  40. Brian M. afviser fejl i Broe-sag, by Elisabeth Arnsdorf Haslund, Berlingske Tidende, 12 January 2010
  41. Camilla Broe tæt på konkurs, by Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet, 2 February 2010
  42. Broes løsladelse minut for minut, by Claus Fahrendorff and Petter Aattingsberg, Denmarks Radio, 25 February 2010
  43. Broe venter på det næste fly hjem, 27 February 2010
  44. Forsvarer: De tvinger hende til at tilstå, Politiken, 2 July 2009
  45. Oprør mod udlevering af Camilla Broe, by Johnny Meyer, Ekstra Bladet, August 11, 2009
  46. Karen Thisted: Camilla Broe skulle have tænkt sig om Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, by Karen Thisted, Ekstrabladet, 5 September 2009
  47. Udleveret - Camilla Broe Archived 2012-07-21 at archive.today, Den sande historie om Camilla Broe, by Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladets forlag, ISBN 978-87-7731-388-2
  48. The Camilla Broe Case, Exchange Student Info
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