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The CopeNhageN posT CphposT.dk
18 - 24 November 2011
prosecutor: a million to one that hansen isn’t ‘amager attacker’ old and new dNa evidence from multiple crimes all point to same man
Ban on somalis illegal JaCOB WHeeler somalis to check their legal rights after a discriminatory ban at playground
SCANPIX
Jennifer Buley
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EMEN traces discovered on the clothing of a 40-year-old school teacher who was raped and murdered in Amager Fælled in 1990 is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, Marcel Lychau Hansen’s, said prosecutor Anne Birgitte Stürup in Copenhagen City Court last week on Thursday. Hansen, who has been identified as the ‘Amager Attacker’, is charged with two murders and multiple violent rapes and attempted rapes that took place around Copenhagen between 1987 and 2010. On Thursday last week the prosecutor told the court that DNA found on the clothing on Rasmussen’s murdered body was a 99.99999 match to Hansen – it just took investigators 20 years to realise it. Hansen showed few emotions as the prosecutor showed the court pictures of Rasmussen’s body, her autopsy, and the murder scene. Bruises on her neck, head, and body indicated that she had fought desperately for her life. On the afternoon of 29 August 1990, Rasmussen, an avid bird watcher, left a note for her boyfriend that she was cycling out to Amager Fælled to look for an eagle she had seen there a few days earlier. The note said she would be back around 6pm. When that time came and went and Rasmussen failed to return, her boyfriend took some friends and went out to look for
DNA testing and a handprint have matched Hansen to two of his accused crimes
her. They could not find her and alerted police that she was missing. An intense search with helicopters and dogs ensued for days, until helicopters spotted her abandoned bicycle. On September 3, Rasmussen’s bruised and strangled body was found hidden in some thick bushes and covered with branches in Fasanskoven, just 50 metres from where her bicycle was discovered. Her sweater had been tied around her neck and pulled over her face. Medical examiners found traces of semen on Rasmussen’s clothing, but were unable to match it to a suspect for more than 20 years. Then, in 2010, a 17-year-old girl was violently raped in an allotment in Amager. Near the scene of her rape, police
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found a used condom. DNA from the semen in the condom matched the DNA from the semen on Rasmussen’s clothing. And both DNA samples are a 1:1,000,000 match for Hansen, Stürup told the court. The prosecutor also presented evidence on Thursday showing a handprint found in the apartment of a young woman who was raped for over two hours in her college dormitory in Amager in 2005. The handprint matches Hansen’s hand, said the prosecutor. On December 9, a DNA expert will testify regarding all the DNA evidence. Hansen’s trial began on November 2 will continue until late December at Copenhagen City Court. More than 50 witnesses, including several of Hansen’s alleged rape victims, are scheduled to testify.
OMALIS in the Aarhus area are considering filing a lawsuit against the owner of an indoor playground in Brabrand, a suburb of Aarhus, after Legeland owner Thomas Vestergaard banned Somalis from the playground. “Somali associations are shocked at the Aarhus playground Legeland’s decision to exclude law-abiding Danish citizens of Somali origin from patronising their business,” said the group AarhuSomali in an official statement. After meeting with another Somali group, the Somali Society of Denmark, on Saturday, Vestergaard rescinded his ban, which would have turned Somalis away for the next six months. The ban ultimately lasted for only one day. Vestergaard had decided to ban all Somalis after he said a gathering of 900 Somalis celebrating an Islamic holiday became so rowdy that it scared away other guests. “We’ve had 700 guests here at a time without problem, but it took us four times longer than normal to clean up after the Somali group,” Vestergaard said. Vestergaard added that some of the centre’s equipment also needed to be repaired after the group left. He also said he gave away 12,000 kroner worth of free tickets to guests who complained about the group. Human rights experts called the ban illegal.
“This clearly violates racism laws, which say you can’t discriminate based on nationality or skin colour, and that’s the case here,” Jonas Christoffersen, a lawyer and the head of the Institut for Mennseskerettigheder, told JyllandsPosten newspaper. Vestgaard rescinded the ban after he felt the Somalis had accepted that “they needed to treat our property with respect”. “They are welcome again,” he told Aarhus Stiftstidende newspaper.
We will consult our legal advisors about the next steps Abdirashiid Sheikh, who heads the Somali Society of Denmark, expressed relief that Vestergaard had rescinded the ban. He considered the case closed. “We can definitely understand that he needs to take care of his business,” said Sheikh. “We will tell the Somali community that people need to behave properly. We told Thomas Vestergaard that he should call us if there is anything our organisation can help him with.” But Somalis in the Aarhus area are not satisfied. “AarhuSomali has discussed whether this case should have consequences for Legeland’s owner. In the coming days, we will consult our legal advisors about the next steps.”
RRIEMANN
Toxic gas threatens meat town
several defunct meat-packing and storing facilities in the Kødbyen area are being assessed as unsafe
Peter stanners The industrial past of kødbyen could threaten development of its gentrified future
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HE FUTURE of one of Copenhagen’s most popular nightlife destinations, Kødbyen, is under threat due to question marks over the safety of an underground ammonia facility. Ammonia, a gas which is both flammable and toxic, is transported via pipes under the tarmac to power cooling systems in the district’s vast, but now mostly defunct, meat-packing and storing facilities. The area has witnessed a re-
generation over the past two decades, however, with restaurants, bars and galleries moving into the district, helping to develop its reputation as an important creative and social hub in the city. But after an initial assessment of the ammonia transport system by consulting firm COWI, Copenhagen environmental agency, Center for Miljø (CMI), has stalled all ongoing and future developments while COWI performs a detailed risk assessment. Events with large numbers of people have also been banned. Kødbyen is owned by the city, and any decision to remove and clean the ammonia system
would cost the city between 80 and 100 million kroner. Due to the dangers associated with ammonia, such a measure would be enormously disruptive to business operations in the district and may result in claims for compensation reaching 100 million kroner. “We have stopped issuing new leases in Kødbyen because we are waiting for COWI’s new risk assessment, which we will receive this week,” Mikkel Årø Hansen from CMI told AOK.dk “If it turns out that the risk is too great, then we can’t guarantee that there won’t be an impact on activities in Kødbyen. At the end of the day it’s about people’s safety.”
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