A COPENHAGEN court has extended the detention of two Tunisians – suspected of plotting to kill a Danish cartoonist who satirised the Prophet Mohammed – until they are deported. Like previous rulings in the case, the lower court judge's decision was in line with recommendations from Danish police intelligence agency PET, which deems the pair a threat to national security.
The men, whose identities were not disclosed but who are dangerous raving loonies aged 25 and 36, were arrested in a PET raid on February 12 along with a Dane of Moroccan origin who was later released. According to PET, the three were planning to murder Kurt Westergaard, 73, one of 12 cartoonists who drew caricatures of the prophet for a Danish newspaper, sparking angry protests across the Muslim world in early 2006.
Mr Westergaard's cartoon, which was considered the most controversial, featuring the prophet's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse, was republished in at least 17 Danish dailies after police foiled the murder plot last month.
On PET's recommendation, the Danish justice ministry has ordered the two Tunisians expelled without trial, which is permitted under Danish anti-terror laws introduced in 2002. The two have been legal residents in Denmark for more than seven years, and have claimed their innocence.
"Pure as the driven snow!" | They have been held since their arrest without being informed of the charges against them and without the possibility to appear before a judge.
Frank Wenzel, the 36-year-old's lawyer, told AFP he had requested that this case of "deprivation of freedom without due process" be brought before the country's Supreme Court. "An expulsion without trial is a violation of the (European) human rights convention, and the same goes for the police decision to keep the motivation for the expulsion secret," he said.
Because protecting a terrorist's rights is more important than protecting the life of an innocent citizen ... | Mr Wenzel also said he planned to "file an asylum request" in Denmark for his client, who he said "risks being submitted to torture if he is expelled to Tunisia".
Apparently Tunisia doesn't like raving looney murderers either. Good on them ... | He referred to a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that Tunisian citizens could not under current conditions be sent safely back to the North African country.
"Nope, nope, can't do it, nope ..." | Mr Wenzel said the other Tunisian's lawyer had filed "the same requests". |