Stephen Gadd
June 8th, 2018

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The Ministry of Chinese – sorry, Foreign – Affairs is under fire from the Tibet Commission (photo: Medill DC)

Contrary to what has previously been said, it appears a large quantity of emails do still exist that the recently disbanded Tibet Commission did not have access to.

On Thursday, the Justice Ministry revealed the police had discovered a mail archive in connection with a routine server check.

The newly-discovered mails are from the top level of the police force as well as from ministers and civil servants, reports DR Nyheder.

It’s an unfair cop
Back in 2012, the police acted illegally and unconstitutionally when they stopped peaceful demonstrators waving Tibetan flags during a Chinese official visit. This was confirmed by a report from the Tibet Commission just before Christmas last year.

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The commission had deliberated for two years at a cost of 23.3 million kroner, but because vital emails had been deleted, it was not possible to decide who had given the illegal orders.

As it was, two middle-ranking police chiefs ended up having to carry the can.

Eliminating all doubts
There have previously been calls to reopen the commission’s enquiry, but the government were not prepared to do so.

The justice minister, Søren Pape Poulsen, has now had to bow to pressure because if he didn’t, it was looking as if a number of other parties outside the government might force the issue.

“Recently, information has come to light that has raised questions about the commission’s access to emails and, by extension, the conclusion they reached,” said Poulsen. “The doubt this raises is in nobody’s interest.”

The government intends to reassemble the previous Tibet Commission rather than appoint a new one, arguing that a new commission would have to start again from square one.