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Turkey confirms release of Islam critic’s assailant

Turkish officials told a Danish delegation that the 27-year-old man accused of trying to execute Lars Hedegaard has been released from prison, but both the Hedegaard and the justice minister are demanding more answers.

Turkey confirms release of Islam critic's assailant
Lars Hedegaard said Turkey is avoiding both international law and common decency. Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Scanpix
A Danish delegation that travelled to Turkey has returned home with a confirmation that the man who attempted to assassinate Islam critic Lars Hedegaard has indeed been released from prison as suspected. What the delegation did not find out, however, was exactly why he was released. 
 
Denmark’s newly-named justice minister, Mette Frederiksen, addressed the release in a written statement. 
 
“I understand that the recent rumours that a Danish citizen was released have been confirmed by the Turkish authorities. I find it completely incomprehensible that the man in question has been released,” she wrote.
 
 
Frederiksen added that Turkey did not give an official reason for the release. According to some reports, Hedegaard’s would-be assassin was handed over to the terrorist group Isis as part of a prisoner swap. 
 
“I had expected that the Turkish authorities would have been prepared to give more answers than the delegation received… But I understand that officials from Turkey are working on giving Denmark answers as soon as possible. The government will naturally hold Turkey to that,” Frederiksen said. 
 
The man in question is ‘BH’, a 27-year-old Danish citizen with a Lebanese background. In February 2013, BH posed as a postal employee delivering a package to Hedegaard. When Hedegaard opened his front door, BH pulled a gun and fired a shot that missed its target. The two men then struggled before BH dropped his gun and ran. He was on the run until April 2014, when he was arrested in Turkey. 
 
Hedegaard, who last week declared that he would run for parliament as a political independent, strongly criticised both the man’s release and the way Turkey has thus far handled the situation. 
 
“It is scandalous and cheeky of Turkey that we needed to send a Danish delegation all the way down there just to find out what they could have told us a week ago,” Hedegaard told DR.
 
“The Turks have placed themselves outside of the regular legal system and with this decision they have also placed themselves outside of common decency,” he added. 
 
In an interview earlier this month, Hedegaard told The Local that he remains convinced that it was his outspoken criticism of Islam that led to the assassination attempt. 
 
 
“I have no doubt at all, but I’d be interested in hearing his explanation. I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me. I’ve had no dealings with him, I haven’t stolen his money or screwed his wife – so what would his motivation then be?” he told The Local. 
 
Among Hedegaard’s controversial comments about Islam was the implication that all Muslim males rape their female family members. That comment resulted in a racism charge that the Supreme Court ultimately acquitted him on. 

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ISLAM

Erdogan calls French separatism bill ‘guillotine’ of democracy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a planned French law designed to counter "Islamist separatism" as a "guillotine" of democracy.

Erdogan calls French separatism bill 'guillotine' of democracy
Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as "anti-Muslim". Photo: Adem ALTAN/AFP

The draft legislation has been criticised both inside France and abroad for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups.

“The adoption of this law, which is openly in contradiction of human rights, freedom of religion and European values, will be a guillotine blow inflicted on French democracy,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara.

The current version of the planned law would only serve the cause of extremism, putting NGOs under pressure and “forcing young people to choose between their beliefs and their education”, he added.

READ ALSO: What’s in France’s new law to crack down on Islamist extremism?

“We call on the French authorities, and first of all President (Emmanuel) Macron, to act sensibly,” he continued. “We expect a rapid withdrawal of this bill.”

Erdogan also said he was ready to work with France on security issues and integration, but relations between the two leaders have been strained for some time.

France’s government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what it has termed “Islamist separatism”, which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as “anti-Muslim”.

READ ALSO: Has Macron succeeded in creating an ‘Islam for France’?

Last October, Erdogan questioned Macron’s “mental health”, accusing him of waging a “campaign of hatred” against Islam, after the French president defended the right of cartoonists to caricature the prophet Mohammed.

The two countries are also at odds on a number of other issues, including Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean.

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