Somalia Attacker "is Only Intended To Scare The Danish Cartoonist
"I was irritated and frustrated with his comments. I wanted to scare him, but he did not kill him," Mohamed Geel, 29, told the packed court in the central Danish city of Aarhus, Denmark, speaking calmly.
Somalia - whose identity has only officially revealed on Wednesday - was set to appear before the district court, but the hearing was moved to a larger Aarhus Court of Appeals agreed throngs of journalists and other spectators who braved safety measures to follow the process.
Geele, who is suspected of breaking into the house 75 years Kurt Westergaard, on 1 January last year, brandishing an ax and trying to kill him, he could face life in prison if convicted on all plans: dealing with terrorism, attempted murder, assault on a police officer and illegal possession of weapons.
His lawyer, Niels Strauss, for his part told the packed court that "my client admits to illegal weapons possession and burglary."
Geel said that the Danish police intelligence is related to Somalia Islamist Al-Shabab, insisted he had "bought the hatchet to help a friend cut down a tree."
"But I took it with me in Aarhus, because I was very angry (Westergaard) and wanted to break his door to talk to him," admitted the accused, who appeared calm and collected in court, dressed a black sweater, jeans and glasses.
Geele, who had a limp clear that injuries sustained during his arrest, said it was "a Muslim who follows the precepts of Islam and who prays and goes to the mosque."
On the night of January 1, 2010, Somalia has depressed the door with an ax and destroyed the television and computer in the room, shouting in Danish would kill me because I had offended the Muslim prophet, "he told AFP the Westergaard the eve of trial.
Cartoonist, who was alone at home in five year old daughter of a friend, rushed into the bathroom, which had been fortified and become Panic Room "to seek safety and to call the police."
When police arrived, waving his left Geele and a knife. He was shot twice and placed under house arrest.
At the opening Wednesday of the trial, the prosecutor Kristen game footage Dyrman Westergaard two calls to the police fear that night for the nine jurors.
! ". He is breaking down the door And 'You must come now very violent," he shouted cartoonist asking, "You must come now or I'm going to kill Clare."
Before Geel train and taxi from her home in Copenhagen, Westergaard house Viby, near Aarhus, has been "shaved his entire body and his clothes smelled a strong scent," the prosecutor said, implying that the man had taken care of "ritual" are often made by those who want to die as martyrs.
She also said that police had found a team in the Red Cross center, where he worked Geele used to search and locate areas of the house of Westergaard.
Cartoonist has faced numerous death threats after the publication of his drawing of the Prophet Muhammad with a turban shaped like a bomb, the fuse again.
He appeared in the Jyllands-Posten daily on September 30, 2005 along with 11 other drawings of the Muslim prophet, and anger sparked protests and even death in the Islamic world in early 2006.
Westergaard, who would testify Thursday told AFP on Tuesday that he thought his attacker to gain "a heavy prison sentence."
"I do not condone his actions, but I'd like to understand how he reached that point. Maybe it was handled," he said.
Geele trial is fixed for a period of nine days and the verdict is expected in the first week of February.