RUTHFULLY YOURS

As messed up as the United States may be these days, the Europeans periodically remind us that it gets worse. Much worse.

It’s hard to think of a more backward and warped phenomenon than the trial of former immigration minister Inger Støjberg, who tried to stop child marriage and the traffic of underage girls into the country during the Muslim migrant crisis. Or the resulting guilty verdict.

Inger Støjberg, a former Danish immigration minister and high-profile government figure during Europe’s 2015 migration crisis, was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Monday after an order she issued in 2016 was ruled illegal.

Støjberg had said that if a member of a married couple seeking asylum in Denmark was found to be under 18 years old — the legal age for marriage in Denmark — then the couple should be separated and housed in separate asylum centers.

Støjberg said at the time she was trying to protect “child brides” who may have been forced into marriage against their will before coming to Denmark.

This is political payback for her attempt to stop the invasion. And it’s meant to send a message to any other political leader with the courage to put their finger in the dike.

Støjberg brought in a series of tough new initiatives to dissuade asylum seekers from coming to her country.

These included a new rule granting border officials the authority to seize valuables to cover the cost of new arrivals’ stay in Denmark, as well as the rule allowing the separation of married couples, which was applied in 23 cases.

Doing the right thing will get you punished.

Speaking outside the court, Støjberg said the ruling was “very surprising” and went against what she believed her country should stand for.

“I think it wasn’t just me that lost today, it was Danish values that lost today,” she told reporters. “I would like to say that if I had had to live with the fact that I had not protected these girls — that would actually have been worse than this,” she said.