4 acquitted in Denmark synagogue attack

The men were accused of helping Omar El-Hussein carry out the attack against Copenhagen’s main synagogue in February 2015 in which a volunteer security guard was killed.

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(JTA) — Four Danish citizens accused of assisting the gunman in two deadly attacks in Copenhagen last year, including one outside a synagogue that left a Jewish security guard dead, were acquitted.

On Tuesday, a Danish court found that the actions of the four men were “not of such a character that the actions can lead to a conviction for complicity,” according to the verdict, the French news agency AFP reported.

Bhostan Khan Hossein, Liban Ahmed Saleban Elmi, Ibrahim Khalil Abbas and Mahmoud Rabea were accused of helping Omar El-Hussein carry out the attack against Copenhagen’s main synagogue on Feb. 15, 2015. They had faced life in prison if convicted.

El-Hussein, 22, was killed in a shootout with police hours after killing the guard, Dan Uzan, 37, in the attack.

Hossein and Elmi were convicted on the lesser charge of disposing of the assault rifle El-Hussein used hours earlier to kill Danish filmmaker Finn Noergaard and wound three police officers at a Copenhagen cafe. They will be sentenced at a later date.

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