A court in Oslo rejected an appeal on Friday from Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, who uses the name Mullah Krekar, that he be released from police custody. The court ruled that the danger Krekar represents is “real and not theoretical.”
The appeals court (Borgating lagmannsrett) called remarks Krekar made in a recent NRK TV interview “extremely frightening” and determined that they could “reawaken new life in earlier encouragment to murder.” The three judges who heard Krekar’s appeal agreed with police that Krekar represents a danger to the public, claiming there was “reason to believe” that “Kurdish jihadists listen to Krekar and take him seriously.”
Norway’s police intelligence unit has called Krekar a threat to national security, and government efforts continue to deport him. The court’s rejection of Krekar’s appeal means he’ll continue to be held in prison as requested by police, who have attempted to keep him in custody pending his deportation.
Krekar angers other Muslims
Other Muslims in Norway continue to lash out at Krekar, with some urging that he only be referred to by his given name and not “Mullah Krekar,” which gives him status as a cleric. They claim Krekar does not represent nor preach Islam as they know it, and that he in fact defies the teachings of the Koran.
“You insult the Prophet Muhammed more than the caricatures do,” wrote local Muslim activist Fatema Al-Musawi in newspaper Aftenposten last week. “Your statements that all Norwegians who draw the prophet should die, is an insult to all Muslims who try to show that your statements defy Islam.
“You have declared yourself as a spokesman for Muslims,” Al-Musawi continued. “Who gave you that right?”
Akhtar Chaudhry, a longtime politician for the Socialist Left party who served in Oslo’s city government, referred to Krekar as “a wandering catastrophe” in an open letter on his blog after Krekar praised the terrorists in Paris.
Now he’ll remain in prison for at least another three weeks. Another court ruling is pending on whether police ultimately can move Krekar to a small village in Trøndelag until he finally can be sent out of Norway.
newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund
