Elected politician Sikandar Siddique loses his appeal in the "housing case" and is close to leaving the Copenhagen City Council.

The leader of the Free Green Party (Frie Grønne), Sikandar Siddique, lost his appeal to the Ministry of Digitalization in the case of registering his place of residence, thus making the decisions of the Copenhagen municipality regarding his not being correctly registered as a resident of the capital before the municipal elections final, according to the Ekstra Bladet newspaper website.

Loss of appeal ends the administrative process

Siddiqui informed the website Extrabladet of the Ministry of Digitalization's decision, while simultaneously confirming that he does not intend to take the matter to court. Therefore, unless the Copenhagen City Council makes a highly unexpected decision to remove him from the council in a different manner, Siddiqui will soon leave the council, to be replaced by his deputy.

A friend objects to the authorities' interpretation

A friend of Ekstra Bladet said he did not understand why ministry officials had made a decision that, in his view, would deprive him of the seat the voters had given him, noting that the authorities acknowledged that he owned a residence in Copenhagen, but did not consider the evidence provided sufficient to prove that it was his main place of residence.

Siddiq felt that the way the case was being handled seemed to him to be a reversal of the burden of proof, but he said the case was now over, expressing his hope that the Free Green Party's seat in the Copenhagen House of Representatives would be able to focus on politics.

A friend insists on the accusation of political motives behind the Zionist posters.

Siddiq did not back down from his previous position that the case was politically motivated, and said that the ministry's decision, like the decision of the Copenhagen municipality, reflected in his opinion a reversal of the burden of proof.

He added that he sees the whole issue as "politically motivated," according to his statements to Ekstra Bladet, and linked this to the political dispute that arose after his party put up posters criticizing Zionism.

Siddiq said that putting up those posters made it clear to him that personal attacks and political pressure would come with the aim of removing them from the scene.

Sikandar Sadiq does not intend to resort to the courts.

Sikandar Siddiq also confirmed that he would not take the case to court, explaining that legal proceedings could continue until the end of the electoral term.

He said he did not want to put his family through another public trial in which they might also have to testify in public, adding that his family members had already been through enough and more.

The party is preparing for the next political phase.

Despite losing the case concerning his seat in the Copenhagen City Council, Siddiq stressed that the decision does not mean the end of his political career.

He said the Free Green Party faces the task of uniting a section of the left that no longer sees the point in making minor adjustments with center-right parties in the hope of inviting them to participate in upcoming political negotiations.

He added that the large protests and demonstrations of recent years have shown that there are large numbers of people who are deeply dissatisfied, and that his party will try to give these people a voice, in conjunction with preparations for the upcoming elections.

The case began at a house in Herlev

The case of Sadiq's place of residence began after Ekstra Bladet revealed in October that, despite officially moving from Herlev to Copenhagen in September, he still owned his house in Herlev.

His family was still living in the house, and his company's address was registered there, as was the address of the Free Green Party (Frie Grønne).

After the Herlev municipality conducted a brief investigation and found no cause for concern about the address change, the Copenhagen municipality launched its own investigation into the matter.

The municipality questioned the validity of the residence.

An investigation by the Copenhagen municipality revealed that Sadiq was registered on paper as a resident of a 3-room apartment with 3 other adults.

The municipality also deemed the apartment's electricity consumption to be unrealistically low.

The municipality felt that the documents provided by my friend, including consumption receipts and proof of shared living and insurance, were not sufficient to prove that he actually lived in the apartment.

The dispute between my friend and the municipality escalated.

The parties exchanged decisions and complaints during the case, and his friend and lawyer Erbil Kaya maintained that the Copenhagen municipality dealt with all elements of the case against the party leader, and that it did not take his documents or explanations seriously.

They also said that the municipality reversed the burden of proof, so that it became up to Sadiq to prove his innocence instead of the municipality proving that he had committed a violation, based on the principle of “the burden of proof is on the one who claims.”.

A friend and his lawyer also challenged the Copenhagen municipality's right to make the decision on the case, and raised doubts about the objectivity of the administrative body that handled the file, which has received considerable attention from politicians and the media.

The file has been transferred to the Ministry of Digitalization.

The Copenhagen municipality stood by its decision issued in February, which concluded that Sikandar Sadiq was not properly registered as a resident of Copenhagen before the municipal elections.

After reviewing the case and the accompanying back-and-forth between the parties, Sadiq filed a complaint in April with the Ministry of Digitalization against the Copenhagen municipality's decision.

The case remained with the ministry since then, before it issued its decision, under which Sadiq lost his appeal, making the decision regarding the registration of his place of residence effective and final, according to what was reported by Extrabladit.