A court in Aarhus has ordered Danish poet Yahya Hassan be held in jail to await trial for a shooting incident he was involved in Friday night. Hassan, a provocative writer whose works are often critical of Islam has been charged with aggravated assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
Police said that Hassan fired five shots from a revolver during a fight at a shopping centre in Aarhus on Sunday night.
READ MORE: Yahya Hassan in court today on assault charge
One shot hit 17-year-old Tolunay Yildizin in the foot. He was treated and released Sunday night.
Legal troubles abound
“I was there by chance at the time he came out of a pizzeria,” Yildizin told Ekstrabladet newspaper. “I saw an angry man coming towards me. I was thinking ‘who is this?’ and then I saw that he had a gun”.
The 20-year-old Hassan entered a plea of not guilty and immediately asked that his sentenced of jail time be heard by the High Court.
This is not the poet’s first run-in with the law this year. He was arrested in February for driving under the influence of drugs.