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| Europe | |
| Denmark suicide watch: Cartoon 'plotter' gets asylum | |
| 2008-10-22 | |
| One of two Tunisians held in Denmark for allegedly plotting to kill a cartoonist who satirised the Prophet Mohammed has been granted asylum in the Scandinavian country, judicial sources said on Tuesday. The 36-year-old man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was arrested with a 26-year-old compatriot on February 12 on suspicion of planning to murder Kurt Westergaard, one of 12 cartoonists whose drawings of the Islamist prophet in a Danish newspaper in 2005 sparked worldwide controversy. The two had been held in custody pending a government-ordered expulsion, a measure recommended by the Danish intelligence agency PET which considered them a threat to national security, without their guilt being established in a trial. The 26-year-old man left Denmark voluntarily in August since he saw no end in sight to his detention without trial. But earlier this year the 36-year-old Tunisian sought political asylum in Denmark and his request was recently granted by the refugee board. "He has been granted a so-called 'tolerated residency'," the board said, adding that he "risks being tortured in Tunisia if he is expelled and there is no reason to keep him in detention," Kirsten Houmann, a secretary for his lawyer, Gunnar Houmann told AFP. The board's decision "cannot be appealed" by the government, she added. She said the special asylum status means the man will not be allowed to work, nor receive state allowances. He will also have to report to police regularly.
The lower courts maintained their rulings. The lawyers appealed once again to the Supreme Court for "principled reasons". The trial is scheduled for November 10. | |
| Posted by:tipper |