Refugee could be expelled from Denmark over Facebook post 'praising Charlie Hebdo attacks'

Iraqi man suggests God deserved the 'honour' for the terror attack which left 12 people dead

Caroline Mortimer@cjmortimer
Monday 24 October 2016 11:08
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The unnamed man post a message suggesting God should be praised for the terror attack on the French satirical magazine
The unnamed man post a message suggesting God should be praised for the terror attack on the French satirical magazine

An Iraqi refugee could be forced to leave Denmark after he was found to have celebrated the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks on Facebook.

The 25-year-old was sentenced to three months in prison and given a conditional deportation order - meaning he will be forced to leave if he commits any more crimes - after he was found to have posted a link to a story about the terror attack in January 2015.

According to Danish media reports, he captioned the post with a smiley face and a comment in Arabic that suggested God deserved the “honour” for the killings.

Twelve people, including 10 employees of the magazine, were killed when jihadists stormed their headquarters during an editorial meeting.

Two days later an accomplice of the two gunmen, Amedy Coulibaly, took hostages at a Jewish supermarket in the Porte de Vincennes district of Paris.

He murdered four Jewish hostages and took 15 others hostage before police stormed the deli and killed him.

The unnamed man attempted to justify the post saying he was merely expressing his faith.

He told Copenhagen City Court last week: “I just praised Allah. I do that every day”, Danish broadcaster DR reported.

The Iraqi national was a former spokesman for the controversial organisation Called to Islam (Kaldet til Islam) which is said to advocate the introduction of Sharia Law in Denmark, according to Hate Speech International.

It was also revealed in court that he had been previously sentenced for threatening to decapitate the chairman of the Danish Syrian Association over his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Isis.

Prosecutors had originally asked for five months imprisonment and immediate deportation.

The man was prosecuted under Article 136 of the Danish Penal Code which forbids “publicly approving” of terrorist acts. It is punishable by up to two years in prison.

His lawyer argued that the Facebook posts were private and only supposed to be read by his 50 friends. He also said the man had deleted the posts once a friend had pointed out how they could be construed.

The lawyer immediately filed an appeal against the sentence on Wednesday, The Local reported.

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