COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish court has convicted an imam of violating Denmark's racism laws and given him a 14-day suspended jail sentence.

The City Court in Odense says Mohammed al-Khaled Samha held a speech in September 2004 in which he described Jews as "children of apes and pigs."

The Syrian-born Samha said the words were made within the framework of Denmark's freedom of speech but the court on Tuesday sided with the prosecution and decided it was in violation with the country's racism laws.

Samha, 58, is an imam at a mosque in Vollsmose, a suburb in the central Denmark city of Odense with a large immigrant population.