Lars Hedegaard
BornLars Hedegaard Jensen
(1942-09-19) 19 September 1942
Horsens, Denmark
OccupationAuthor
LanguageDanish
CitizenshipDanish

Lars Hedegaard (born 19 September 1942) is a Danish journalist and author. He established the Danish Free Press Society in 2004, which was turned into the International Free Press Society in 2009.

Career

Originally a high school teacher, he was one of the editors of the Fundamental historie series of books, and edited a volume of the Hvem Hvad Hvor ("Who What Where") yearbook in the 1980s. He also worked as a journalist. In the 2000s, he wrote a column called "Roughly Said" for the newspaper Berlingske Tidende. A self-described Marxist,[1] he was politically active as a member of the Danish Socialist Workers Party until 1982.

Hedegaard is known as a critic of Islam.[2] According to him, he was dismissed from Berlingske Tidende after he ignored repeated requests from the management to mitigate his criticism of Islam.[3] In 2007 he took part in the international counter-jihad conference in Brussels.[4] On July 4, 2014, a new animated film that he co-produced entitled Aisha and Muhammad was released. The film focuses on the life of the fifty-year-old Islamic prophet Muhammad and his marriage to a then six-year-old Aisha.[5] The film was directed by Pakistani director Imran Firasat.[5]

Trial

In 2011, he was convicted of hate speech under the Article 266b of the Danish Penal Code, and fined 5,000 kroner. He had made critical remarks against the Islamic society, which included “girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins, or their dad.” He later clarified that he did not intend to accuse all the Muslims of abusing their children.[6] He appealed the verdict, and in 2012, the Supreme Court acquitted him in a 7–0 decision.[7]

Assassination attempt in 2013

On 5 February 2013, an unknown person posing as a postman attempted to shoot Hedegaard in his home. The attempt failed, and the assailant escaped. The Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt condemned the attack and said the case was even more severe if the motive was to prevent Hedegaard from using his free speech.[8] Danish Muslims responded by rallying to defend Hedegaard and to defend his right to free speech. The Islam Society, which had been heavily involved in the protest against his cartoons and helped to publicise their opposition internationally, stated that it regretted its role during the controversy, and the Danish branch of Minhaj-ul-Quran demonstrated outside the City Hall in defense of Hedegaard and free speech.[9]

In November 2016, the US State Department issued a note, designating three persons as terror-operatives: "Basil Hassan is an external operations plotter for ISIL. In 2013, Hassan was accused of shooting Lars Hedegaard, a 70-year old Danish author and journalist. After being arrested in Turkey in 2014, he was released as part of an alleged exchange for 49 hostages held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). After his release, Hassan was believed to have travelled to Syria to join ISIL."[10]

Personal life

Hedegaard was born in Horsens, and has been married twice. In 1969, he converted to Judaism in conjunction with his marriage to his first wife, Barbara Levin of Los Angeles. Hedegaard has three children and one step-daughter.[11][12][13]

References

  1. "'Jeg er da stadig marxist ...'". Dagbladet Information. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  2. "Gunman fires at Danish anti-Islam writer, misses". Washington Post. 2013-02-05. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  3. Danish columnist says newspaper fired him. November 14, 2008.
  4. "Counter Jihad Brussels: 18–19 October 2007". International Civil Liberties Alliance. 20 October 2007.
  5. 1 2 Copenhagen Post: "Lars Hedegaard among the producers of new anti-Islam animation" by Christian Wenande July 3, 2014
  6. "President of Danish Free Press Society convicted for 'Racism'". Europe News. 2011-05-03. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  7. Ann Snyder (2012-04-21). "Danish Supreme Court Acquits Hedegaard". The Legal Project. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  8. "Denmark shooting: Gunman targets Islam critic Hedegaard". BBC. 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  9. Higgins, Andrew (27 February 2013). "Danish Opponent of Islam Is Attacked, and Muslims Defend His Right to Speak". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. United States Department of State
  11. "Google Translate". translate.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  12. "www.hvfk.dk" (PDF). www.hvfk.dk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  13. "Fakta om Lars Hedegaard". DR. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
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