Copenhagen: Student suspected in terror manhuntOn Thursday, Alisiv Ceran, a student at the University of Copenhagen, became a terror suspect after police published images of him taken by surveillance cameras on the Copenhagen Metro.
And all because one passenger found his nervous behaviour suspicious as he prepared for a university exam by reading a book on the war on terror while travelling on the metro.
But even though Ceran was exonerated, Anette Storgaard, a lecturer in the Department of Law at Aarhus University, does not necessarily think that the police acted incorrectly.
What if it had been correct?
"If he had been dangerous and the police had not published the images? That would have hit the headlines in a worse way and become an even greater problem," she said.
She pointed out that it was difficult to assess whether the police acted too hastily when they published images of the nervous student.
"Naturally, it is distressing for him personally and the police should definitely note the episode for future reference," Storgaard added.
Expert: Manhunts can be acceptable
The young man found himself the centre of a terrorist manhunt as he sat suffering from pre-exam nerves preparing for an examination on the war on terror on the metro.
One passenger found him suspicious and reported him to the police, and the hunt for Alisiv Ceran began.
Police quickly published images of him, which a number of national media channels, including dr.dk, showed while the manhunt was in progress.
But even though he turned out to be just a nervous student, Storgaard still does not think the police action was wrong.
"It is difficult to assess if it was an over-reaction. There must themselves decide and assess the reliability of the informant," she said.
Public more observant , thinks expert
Lawyer, Henrik Stagetorn also thinks it is difficult to assess when and how quickly police should release photographs of a suspect, as in the case of Alisiv Ceran.
"It's difficult to gauge whether this was an over-reaction and the police acted too quickly. It's a tough call," he said.
Stagetorn also thinks that it may indicate that people are becoming more aware of the terrorist threat and are becoming more observant .
"He's clean," say police
At a press conference yesterday, Copenhagen police emphasised that the man was completely innocent.
"As the informant seemed very reliable, we decided that it was important to find the suspect," said Chief Inspector Mogens Lauridsen of Copenhagen police, who also noted that there was no reason to disbelieve the informant.
During the press conference, Lauridsen was suddenly interrupted by a colleague saying:
"They've got him and he's clean. We have spoken to him and he's OK," the officer said.
It has created a tsunami of jokes from brown- and pale-skinned Danes alike as many think it was a huge overreaction by the authorities.
He entered the train at Avedøre (an area with many Muslim immigrants) and he dropped his suitcase which made him even more nervous and he checked its contents. Which was his printer which he was taking with him for his exam (as they apparently require every student to do) and to get to the university he had to change to the Metro at the country's most busy hub (which *IS* an obvious terror target because it is so crammed even a small explosion would be catastrophic) and the woman who reported him connected the dots:
Brown man + nervous + reading a book on "War on terror" (his exam subject) + large suitcase + electronics = terrorist.
He wants to be a high school teacher.
Topic: Denmark: Brown + nervous + book on terror + train + electronics = terror scare