DENMARK: 29-year-old Somalian Muhudiin Mohamed Geele found guilty of attempted terrorism and manslaughter after he broke into the home of a Danish cartoonist

Record ID: 226226

  • Title: DENMARK: 29-year-old Somalian Muhudiin Mohamed Geele found guilty of attempted terrorism and manslaughter after he broke into the home of a Danish cartoonist
  • Date: 4th February 2011
  • Summary: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (FILE - NOVEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) BOOK "MANDEN BAG STREGEN" - "THE MAN BEHIND THE LINE" IN ENGLISH/ CARTOONIST KURT WESTERGAARD IN BACKGROUND WESTERGAARD AT BOOK LAUNCH ON IPHONE CAMERA DISPLAY WESTERGAARD AT BOOK LAUNCH WESTERGAARD TALKING AT BOOK LAUNCH NEWS BRIEFING WESTERGAARD SIGNING BOOK
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Denmark, Denmark
  • Country: Denmark
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA39K58QPU0FWHHQ55EO3VDL05A
  • Story Text: A Danish court on Thursday (February 3) found a Somali man guilty of attempted terrorism for trying to kill Kurt Westergaard, whose 2005 drawing of the Prophet Mohammad stirred Muslim outrage around the globe.
    The 29-year-old Somali, who broke into Westergaard's Aarhus home with an axe on New Year's Day last year, was also convicted of attempted manslaughter, a police official said.
    The man, who police have said has links to al Qaeda and other militant organisations, was acquitted on another attempted manslaughter charge, brought because he threw his axe at a police officer who arrived to arrest him, but was convicted of violence against the officer, police said.
    When the man broke into the house, the illustrator fled to a safe room from where he called the police and was unhurt. Westergaard's five-year-old granddaughter was also in the house at the time of the attack.
    Police, who responded to an alarm, shot and wounded the man in the leg and hand and then arrested him after he threw the axe but narrowly missed one officer.
    The man denied the charges of attempted murder and terrorism but did not deny being at Westergaard's home.
    The court in Aarhus was expected to sentence the man on Friday (February 4).
    Under Danish law, certain crimes can bring penalties of up to life in prison if they are deemed to be carried out with the intention of terrorism.
    Westergaard's caricature of the Prophet was one of a dozen cartoons lampooning Islam published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, which led to violent protests in 2006 and threats to cartoonists, other journalists and the newspaper.
    In November, Westergaard published his autobiography in which he seeks to explain how his religious childhood had influenced his life and views on religion. He has also said the book was about freedom of speech.
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