Copenhagen - A Danish district court on Tuesday acquitted a man charged with inciting the kidnapping of Danish soldiers in order to free two friends held on suspicion of planning a terror attack. The court in Frederiksberg was not unanimous. The six lay jury members and one of the three judges voted to acquit the 23-year-old while two other judges wanted to convict him, Danish news media reported.
The Danish security intelligence service (PET) had a year ago monitored an online chat the man conducted with a friend in Turkey where he allegedly discussed exchanging kidnapped soldiers to secure the release of the two detainees.
The head of the PET, Jakob Scharf, defended the arrest in a statement, noting that the suspicions had been considered serious enough for prosecutors to press charges.
Last month, the Frederiksberg court convicted and sentenced to jail two men for planning a terror attack and manufacturing explosives.
The men, a Danish and an Afghan national, were arrested in September 2007 on suspicion of planning a terror attack and manufacturing explosives.
The two, both aged 22, were sentenced to 12 and seven years in prison, respectively.
