On October 27, 2005

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

police arrested four people in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

on charges of terrorism, in connection to the arrests in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

of Abdulkadir Cesur and Mirsad Bektasevic (AKA Maximus). All four had been under surveillance for a while.

Suspects

The four original suspects are: *Abdul Basit Abu-Lifâ, born June 1989 in Brøndby Strand, of Palestinian background with dual Danish-Jordanian citizenship. Apparently the most active of the four, he was preparing to join Bektasevic in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. His father discovered his plans and took away his passport and therefore he was replaced by Cesur. He is said to be very intelligent and a good, but quiet student. He received a seven-year sentence, but was released on parole in 2010. After his release Abu-Lifa legally changed his name to Isaac Meyer. In 2013, he re-appeared in Danish headlines after he assaulted Islam critical teen poet

Yahya Hassan Yahya Hassan (19 May 1995 – 29 April 2020) was a Danish poet and political activist of Palestinian descent, whose poems and public statements criticizing both Islam and Danish policies on migration and participation in armed conflicts mad ...

. He received a five-month sentence.Mand idømmes fem måneders fængsel for overfaldet på Yahya Hassan
''Politiken'', 9 December 2013. *A 20-year-old man from Brøndby. A Bosnian who emigrated with his family to Denmark in 1993. He was studying industrial technology at the Technical School of Copenhagen. His family was concerned over his radicalization. *19-year-old young man from Frederiksberg in central

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. He was studying at the time of arrest and worked at the telecompany TDC. He started to take an interest in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

during his second year in high school. Reported to have visited

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in 2005. *16-year-old minor from

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station ...

. He is of Moroccan background and grew up in Denmark. Two additional suspects in their early 20s were arrested two days later after approaching the police. The two, a man and his girlfriend, has been living in an apartment owned by the sister of one of the suspects arrested previously. The two were released without charges on November 29. On November 1 a 22-year-old man was arrested. He was convicted for sending a death threat to a political organization. He voluntarily submitted to psychiatric treatment.

Charges

Three of the four original suspects attracted security service attention when they traveled to London to visit Omar Bakri. They went together to the same mosque in

. According to reports they hated society and were introverted. The four also attended the

al-Tawhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single mo ...

study circle, organized by

Abu Ahmed Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (1978 – May 2, 2011), real name: Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed (also known as Shaykh Abu Ahmed, Arshad Khan and Mohammed Arshad), was a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani terrorist and courier for Osama bin Laden. He was not a Kuwaiti, but rat ...

, in which he spoke against democracy and integration. The four original suspects had been in contact with Cesur and Bektasevic during the summer of 2005. According to news reports the four had been planning a terrorist attack in downtown Copenhagen, with Nørreport station, Field’s and

Fisketorvet Fisketorvet - Copenhagen Mall is a shopping centre located on Kalvebod Brygge waterfront in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is Denmark's third largest shopping center by size. Fisketorvet - Copenhagen Mall regularly hosts events for the guests such as: ...

considered primary targets. One of the suspects had been detained two weeks prior to his arrest for 'behaving suspiciously' outside a football stadium in Brøndby. An Israeli team was supposed to play in the stadium and police suspected he might have been planning an attack there.

Evidence

Among the evidence were taped telephone calls and internet communication supposedly connecting the four to the Bosnian investigation. The four had used different names and call signs, making the investigation a complicated one. Searches at the residences of the four suspects disclosed 200000 Danish kroner (~35,000 USD) in cash and a substantial collection of Islamist

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

material. Prosecutors also had a taped conversation, apparently between Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa and Maximus in which Abu-Lifa says "We’re trying to find a place but it’s too risky". In many of the taped conversations, the suspects says they will continue their conversation by internet. The suspects refused to talk to police.

Trial

The trial started on Dec. 6th, 2006. A jury found all four guilty of planning terror attacks. On Feb. 15th, 2007 a panel of judges overturned the verdict for three of the suspects, due to insufficient evidence. The guilty verdict for the fourth suspect, 17-year-old Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, was upheld. Abu-Lifa was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Later in 2007 the public prosecutor in Copenhagen decided to proceed with a re-trial for one of the 3 suspects whose conviction had been overruled by the judges. The trial was scheduled to commence in January 2008.

References

Jihad in Denmark
Danish Institute for International Studies

Copenhagen Post

Copenhagen Post

Copenhagen Post

Copenhagen Post

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