Danish court clears environmental scientist of defamation

Judge finds nitrogen statistics were based on scientific findings and published in public interest

A Danish environmental scientist has been cleared of defamation by a court in Hillerød, which found that analysis of nitrogen pollution by the researcher was not “offensive” to Danish farmers.

Stiig Markager, a professor in marine biogeochemistry and plankton ecology at the University of Aarhus, did not “offend anyone’s honour” by publishing statistics on pollution, the court ruled. The court said that Markager had proven that his data had been scientifically derived and were based on research analysis.