4 go on trial for helping Copenhagen attacks gunman

Four men go on trial Thursday accused of helping a Danish-born gunman whose attacks on a synagogue and a free speech event last year left two people dead.

On February 14 2015, Omar El-Hussein, 22, opened fire outside a Copenhagen cultural centre where the speakers on "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression" included Swedish artist Lars Vilks, a target of Islamic extremists since he portrayed the Prophet Mohammed as a dog in 2007.

A 55-year-old filmmaker, Finn Norgaard, died in the attack.

Later that night the Danish-Palestinian fired six shots outside the city's main synagogue, killing security guard Dan Uzan, 37. The assailant was shot dead by police hours later.

The trial, which opens on Thursday at 9:30 am (0830 GMT), will focus on events that took place in the hours between the two attacks, when four men aged between 20 and 31 are accused of having aided the killer.

The prosecution believes they are guilty of committing a "terror offence" by providing El-Hussein with support in the form of ammunition, a hoodie and a bag used in the second attack, and by paying for his time in an Internet cafe where he located the synagogue.

Two have also been charged with helping him get rid of an M95 rifle he used outside the cultural centre.

- Long wait -
Because preliminary hearings have been held behind closed doors, little is known about the four suspects, all of whom plead innocent and who have been detained since February and March last year.

Neither their names nor relationships to the killer have been published by the Danish media.

If found guilty, they risk life imprisonment, which in Denmark means they would be entitled to a pardoning hearing after 12 years.

"It has been hard waiting because the police can go out and say to the media what they think of the case but the defence can't do the same," Berit Ernst, a lawyer for one of the men, told AFP.

The prosecution, which has set aside 30 court days for the trial, believes it can show that the four suspects were in close contact with El-Hussein in the hours after the first attack.

It will also have to prove their "intent", meaning that they knew about his plans to commit an act of terror.

Their actions "should be seen in relation to the previous attack at the Krudttonden (cultural centre)," prosecutor Bo Bjerregaard told news agency Ritzau.

Released from prison two weeks before the attacks after serving time for a stabbing, El-Hussein was known for his violent temper and for having ties to a criminal gang on the immigrant-heavy Mjolnerparken estate where he grew up.
Danish intelligence agency PET has been criticised for failing to act on information from prison services that he was at risk of radicalisation.

The killer's Islamic burial outside Copenhagen was attended by hundreds of people, including gang members but also people in the local Muslim community who wanted to show support for his family.

A 19-year-old Mjolnerparken resident who gave his name as Abdi said he knew the suspects and that he believed they were innocent.

The estate had "changed a lot since what happened last year. The police are more aggressive now and they are here more than they used" to be, he added.

Since the attacks, the city of Copenhagen has launched a plan partly inspired by the smaller Danish city of Aarhus' "soft-hands" approach to battling the radicalisation of young Muslims with social techniques used in gang exit strategies.
Source :AFP