Friday, April 20, 2007

Chaos in Court

A large group of Turks created havoc in a Danish court when the jury acquitted a young Lebanese man of homicide.


This from Copenhagen Post:
The acquittal of a man suspected of stabbing another to death got friends and family member of the victim to rush the suspect and court representatives

A 21 year-old man was found not guilty of murder in an Århus court Tuesday, resulting in friends and family members of the victim leaping over the courtroom railings in an effort to attack the accused, the judge and the jury.

Up to 50 of the victim's supporters threatened to kill the defendant and had to be restrained by the five police officers on the scene, who used truncheons and pepper spray against the mob while reinforcements were called in. Chairs and other objects were thrown at the police and court participants by the angry group, several of whom were arrested.

`It was like a tsunami wave rolling over the railing,' said Judge Peter Lilholt, who presided over the case.

The man acquitted, a Lebanese Dane, had been charged with stabbing 21 year-old Turk Murat Karabulut to death during a brawl outside an Århus pizzeria 7 June last year. Despite a mountain of circumstantial evidence, the prosecution lacked the murder weapon and had only witness statements from the other group involved in the altercation and a purportedly missing getaway car.

It was not the first time family members to Karabulut caused trouble for the police, as a similar but less destructive demonstration took place at the suspect's preliminary hearing last June.

After the incident, the victim's family members reiterated threats outside the courthouse that they would kill the acquitted man.
Murat Karabulut was on parole from prison when he was stabbed, having done time for assault and robbery.

How nice it is to live i a multi-cultural society.

2 comments:

Fidothedog said...

Typical soft justice for the oppressed moslems.

Yankee Doodle said...

It would be interesting to see more details about that case.

It's possible that the accused, who was acquitted, was defending himself against a violent felon. It's possible that the family and friends of the "victim" reacted just as the "victim" had -- violently.

It's also possible that the accused murdered this guy and got away with it, which would naturally infuriate the family, although the family's conduct after the acquittal would still be wrong.

Circumstantial evidence, but no direct evidence? Other possibilities exist.

Interesting.

You have a good blog. Blog more often, please!