Three people have been charged with attempted terrorism in Denmark and accused of gathering chemicals and other materials to make a bomb.
Danish prosecutors said the plan was foiled when two men, aged 22 and 23 from the Copenhagen area, were arrested in December 2019. A woman aged 39 was also detained.
Police believe they were planning to build one or more bombs for an attack on an unknown target, either in Denmark or in another country.
“We believe the three people had acquired chemicals and materials that enabled them to manufacture explosives that were to be used in a terrorist attack,” said Lise-Lotte Nilas, the public prosecutor in Copenhagen.
“It is also our opinion that the plans failed when the two men were arrested by the police,” she said.
The woman is charged with financing terrorist activities by transferring money via an intermediary to people connected with ISIS. She is also accused of helping several people to create social media profiles and spreading large amounts of ISIS propaganda online.
One of the men and the woman have dual citizenship and Denmark will seek to expel them if convicted, authorities said. The other man is Danish.
The trial, which is expected to start early next month in Copenhagen, comes after another 14 people were arrested in Denmark and Germany in February on suspicion of preparing explosives. Some of the suspects were from Syria and authorities said they also discovered an ISIS flag.
Denmark has feared attacks since 2005, when a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Danish intelligence service has foiled a number of attacks in recent years, but warns the risk is “serious” six years after a double attack in Copenhagen left two people dead.
At least 158 people from Denmark have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS since 2012, raising concerns of terrorist attacks on their return. Denmark’s parliament passed a law in 2019 that allowed the government to strip dual-national foreign fighters of their Danish citizenship, to prevent them from returning.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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MWTC info
Tickets to the MWTC range from Dh100 and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae or by calling 800 86 823 from within the UAE or 971 4 366 2289 from outside the country and all Virgin Megastores. Fans looking to attend all three days of the MWTC can avail of a special 20 percent discount on ticket prices.
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
