The convicted terrorist Isaac Meyer was today found guilty of assaulting the poet Yahya Hassan in Copenhagen Central Station in November.
Hassan is known for his poetry that condemns the behaviour of some immigrants and Muslims who live in ghettos. He has re-ignited a national debate on immigration, and his poems resulted in racism charges being filed against him earlier this month.
Hassan originally claimed that Meyer called him a “non-believer” as he attacked Hassan from behind, but the poet told the court today that he couldn’t remember very much of the assault.
Attack on free speech
Hassan blamed his memory problems on smoking cannabis, and even claimed to not remember a poem about the assault that he had written and performed in a video for Politiken newspaper.
While Hassan could not remember what his attacker looked like, Meyer admitted to recognising the poet, leading the prosecutor to argue that the assault represented an attack on free speech.
Meyer argued that he was not provoked by Hassan’s poetry, but that he acted impulsively after the poet stared him down on the train platform.
Convicted terrorist
Meyer changed his name from Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa after completing a jail sentence handed to him as a 17-year-old in 2007 for his involvement in planning terrorist acts in Europe.
Politiken newspaper reports that Meyer plans to appeal the decision to the Eastern High Court.