Arthur Lyons
Twenty-one
individuals were arrested on Wednesday by the Danish Security and Intelligence
Service (PET) during nationwide sweeps meant to stop a radical Islamic
terrorist plot.
Although the names and
nationalities of those arrested have not been made public, authorities have
reported that they had planned to carry out acts of terror on Danish soil with
a “militant Islamist motive,” Danish newspaper Berlingske reports.
Of the twenty-one people who
were arrested across seven police districts in the country, eight of the
suspects – six men and two women – are set to appear in a Copenhagen court on
Thursday. They’re accused of procuring bomb-making materials and attempting to
obtain illegal firearms.
According to the newspaper, the
remaining thirteen suspects have been released but were still charged with the
terrorist clause.
“PET has carried out an
intensive intelligence operation based on the suspicion that several people
were preparing for terrorist attacks. They are driven by a militant Islamist
motive. They have the intention and capacity to commit terror in Denmark,”
Operational Chief of the Security and Intelligence Service (PET) Flemming
Drejer said during a press conference.
“It does not change the
terrorist threat to Denmark, it remains serious. We should not be bowed to
terror, we must live our lives normally,” Drejer added.
In response to the nationwide
sweeps, Denmark’s Justice Minister Nick Hekkerup said, “On the one hand, I
welcome the result. On the other hand, it indicates that we are a country under
threat of terror and that we need to be vigilant.”
In October, Denmark passed a law that
allows the government to strip individuals who go off to fight for foreign
terrorist groups of their Danish citizenship. Last week, the Danish government
applied this law for the third time.
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