World Bulletin/News Desk

Abu Ubaydillah, a 23 year old Danish Muslim, spokesman for the organization Call to Islam (Kaldet til Islam), has been cited by the Danish police, apparently for praising Allah in a Facebook-comment to a Danish TV2 News website article.

In an article on Friday, TV2 news reported that the perpetrators in the Charlie Hebdo attack in France claimed it to be “a revenge for the Muhammad-drawings.”

“I shared a link to this story on Facebook and commented with the words 'All Praise only belongs to Allah' in Arabic, Ubaydillah tells Anadolu Agency.

“It was totally absurd. I asked the police when they searched my apartment, whether it is now forbidden to praise Allah, and that they could ask any Arab speaking about the meaning of the sentence. But they responded that they interpreted it differently and maintained the charges, Abu Ubaydillah says.

According to Danish Radio 24/7, the sentence meant that God deserves the honor for the killings in Paris on Wednesday's deadly attack, killing 12 journalists at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

“But that is not what I said, which any Muslim can confirm,” says Abu Ubaydillah.

“It is remarkable how Danes apparently fight for the freedom of speech, but as soon as a Muslim speaks out, he is deemed extremist and Islamist”, Ubaydillah says.

The Facebook post was deleted afterwards by Ubaydillah himself, but based on a screenshot the Danish police cited him under Article 136 of the Danish Penal Code, which outlaws “publicly approving” actions that are punishable under the nation’s terror laws. The penalty can range from a fine to two years in prison.

According to Ubaydillah, the police confiscated both his computers. Danish police has refused to comment on the matter.

Man who hailed Paris attack on Facebook charged

Meanwhile, a French man will face charges at a criminal court in eastern France’s Strasbourg city for allegedly hailing the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack on a Facebook post.

According to the French daily Le Figaro, an unnamed 30-years-old man allegedly published a photo of a Kalashnikov along with words of praise for Wednesday's attack that left 12 people, including leading French cartoonists and police officers dead.

Police said the man used a pseudonym online, but still managed to track him down. The suspect was interrogated Thursday evening.

According to French Interior Ministry, 3,721 messages condoning the attacks were identified on social networks since Wedneday, French daily Le Monde reported. 

French news website Numerama said that under the French penal code, one could get five years in jail and a €75,000 fine for “the fact of directly calling to terrorism or to publicly welcome such acts."