NORWAY: Two men are found guilty of plotting to attack the Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed

Record ID: 351955

  • Title: NORWAY: Two men are found guilty of plotting to attack the Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed
  • Date: 31st January 2012
  • Summary: ARHUS, DENMARK (FILE - 2008) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS JYLLANDS-POSTEN DANISH CARTOONIST KURT WESTERGAARD DRAWING COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (FILE - DECEMBER 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF BUILDING WHERE JYLLANDS-POSTEN HAS ITS OFFICES
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Norway, Norway
  • Country: Norway
  • Reuters ID: LVA8OKF8ZGOHFBUZ8REEHOLHTJTZ
  • Story Text: A Norwegian of Chinese Muslim origin with alleged links to al Qaeda was convicted on Monday (January 30) of plotting to blow up a Danish newspaper that had printed cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
    Mikael Davud, who was accused of leading a bomb plot, had admitted he intended some day to attack Chinese interests like the Chinese embassy in Oslo but he was charged only with plotting to bomb the Danish newspaper.
    Prosecutors had earlier recommended an 11-year prison sentence for Davud.
    A co-defendant, Iraqi-Kurd Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, was also convicted and sentenced to three and a half years in prison while a third defendant, David Jakobsen, an Uzbek with Norwegian residency, was convicted on a lesser charge and sentenced to 4 months, which he has already served.
    Prosecutor Geir Evanger was satisfied with the outcome.
    "This was a good decision, a thorough decision and the court has done a good job I would say," he said.
    But Davud's lawyer Carl Konow Rieber-Mohn said he would advise his client to appeal.
    "My response and my advice is that this needs to go further. We need to make an appeal on this decision. That would be my recommendation for my client. And I hope that the high court will see the evidence in another light than what we have witnessed today," he said, adding that his next step would be to visit his client in prison.
    "The next step for me together with my college will be to see the client in prison with the interpreter and make some advices for him to bring this case to the high court," he said.
    It was Norway's first terrorism case with alleged international links. Under Norwegian law a charge of planning to commit a terrorist attack requires proof of a conspiracy between two or more people.
    Jyllands-Posten was the first of several European publications to print cartoons lampooning the Prophet in late 2005 and early 2006, sparking violent protests in the Middle East and Africa and a widespread debate about press freedom.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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