Denmark: Family threatens to kill released murder suspect

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.
Source: Copenhagen Post (English)

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