Taxi driver gets 14 years for mosque shooting

The jury did not believe the explanation that Janaid Iqbal acted in self defence when he shot victim over a dozen times

Janaid Iqbal, 28, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the murder of 24-year-old Tamur Asghar outside a mosque on Amerikavej in Vesterbro last year.

Iqbal was also shot twice, in the stomach and buttocks, during the incident, before jumping into a car that drove him to a hospital in Malmö, Sweden. The police said that shots were fired from at least three weapons at the scene.

Iqbal claimed in court that he had been shot first and was acting in self defence and in a state of shock when he killed Asghar.

But the jury believed the prosecution's argument that it was a planned execution and that Iqbal had shot first. Some of the shots were fired only 75 centimetres from the victim.

Iqbal immediately appealed the court's decision.

“We don’t agree with the judgement of the evidence in the case. They haven’t accounted for the unique situation that my client found himself in,” Rolf Lindegaard Gregersen, Iqbal's defence lawyer, told metroXpress newspaper.

Iqbal and Asghar grew up on the same street, Saxogade in Vesterbro, but found themselves at the heart of a family feud that ultimately culminated in the murder of two people.

On 30 August  2011, following an argument between Asghar and Iqbal’s father and uncle outside the mosque, Iqbal pulled a gun and shot Asghar between 12 and 14 times.

Mohammad Shakil, Iqbal’s uncle who drove with him to Malmö after the shooting, was himself shot and killed last month, after he had closed his kiosk on Enghavevej on Vesterbro for the night.

The police believe that Shakil's murder was retaliation for the killing of Asghar.





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.