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December 6, 2006

Denmark: Muslim Terror Trial Begins

News from BreakingNews.iol.ie, Associated Press, Copenhagen Post and Serbianna:

The trial began today of four young Muslims who had been picked up in terror raids last October in Copenhagen. Most of these were worshippers at a mosque in Noebbro district, headed by the notorious Palestinian-born preacher Abu Laban. He made a name for himself after he deliberately provoked the Danish cartoon crisis when he showed the Jyllands-Posten cartoons, with three fake cartoons to Middle East leaders.

Seven people had been arrested last year. Four had been apprehended on October 28, with two more arrested on October 29, with another apprehended shortly after.

The suspects have been named as Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, Elias Ibn Hsain, Imad Ali Jaloud and Adnan Avdic. When they were arrested, they had been linked to two individuals who had been arrested in Bosnia-Hercegovina on October 23, a Bosnian who had lived in Sweden, named Mirsad Bektasevic and another Bosnian with a Turkish passport and a Danish residency permit, Cesur Abdulkadir.

When arrested the Danes were suspected of plotting a major terror attack against a major European target. It was soon revealed that they had been in contact with a man in Bosnia named "Maximus", who is in fact Mirsad Bektasevic (pictured). As a demonstration of how international terror plots have become, the Danish suspects appear to be linked to three men charged in Britain on November 4, with conspiracy and terror charges - Waseem Mughal, Younis Tsouli and Tariq al-Daour.

The four Danish suspects on trial have been linked to Mirsad Bektasevic ("Maximus") by mobile phone conversations and internet communications, said the prosecutor, Joergen Jensen. He said he would be presenting evidence of these at the trial. Mr Jensen told the 12-member jury: "They agreed with Maximus and Cesur that (the latter two) should travel to Bosnia to get hold of explosives."

The defendants are aged 17 to 21, and could face life imprisonment if found guilty. The trial is expected to continue until February 16. Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, Elias Ibn Hsain, Imad Ali Jaloud and Adnan Avdic have all pleaded not guilty to charges of "attempting terrorism", relating to their allegedly planning an attack in Bosnia or another European country. Their please were entered for them by lawyers. They themselves said nothing during the hearing today which took place in the Eastern High Court, Copenhagen.

Of the four, Adnan Avdic is a Bosnian national, but the other three, Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, Elias Ibn Hsain and Imad Ali Jaloud, were all born in Denmark to immigrants from the Middle East.

Prosecutor Joergen Jensen said that the three Danish born suspects should lose their citizenship status, and that Avdic should have his residence permit revoked. Mr Jensen said that all four should be deported from Denmark when they have served their sentences.

They were apprehended in the west Copenhagen suburb of Glostrup. According to Joern Vestergaard, a specialist in criminal law from the University of Copenhagen, there may be problems in securing a conviction for the four accused. He said: "The crucial point will be how the court interprets information about what the accused have done, and a ticking bomb is lacking here. To lift the burden of proof, the individual and divergent elements must be connected to form a sufficiently solid case."

The trial is being modeled upon the trial which is currently taking place in Sarajevo, Bosnia, involving Mirsad Bektasevic (Maximus), Cesur Abdulkadir and a third man, Barjo Ikanovic, a native Bosnian. This trial had commenced officially on May 3. Cesur Abdulkadir and Mirsad Bektasevic had arrived in Bosnia a few weeks before their arrest. In their possession was discovered suicide vests, about 30 kilograms, or 65 pounds, of exploding bullets and high explosive, and a machine pistol. It was alleged that Ikanovic had helped Abdulkadir and Bektasevic to buy 22 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives, which the two had intended to form into a suicide belt.

The three individuals entered their pleas of not guilty to the court, and judge Mehmed Sator adjourned the case. It re-convened on September 26 this year. Mirsad Bektasevic, who had lived on the west coast Sweden, admitted that he had made a video, on a camera borrowed from his Bosnian aunt. On this video, two men in masks stated that they intended to carry out terror attacks in Europe. They displayed a collection of weapons, including hand grenades and what seem to be explosives on the video.

Bektasevic (Maximus) had become radicalized only after he started visiting a mosque in Gothenburg, Sweden, his mother explained last November. There he came under the influence of three men, a Palestinian from Syria, a Kurd and a Somali. She said: "He was not religious before, but in the past two years he practiced more seriously. Some people frightened him and talked to him about hell, and told him he would be tortured in hell if he does not pray and does not believe."

Despite his mother's attempts to cast him as an innocent victim, Mirsad Bektasevic had become known to police and intelligence officials as a recruiter of Muslims, who were to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to join the insurgency. He appears to be the main link between Bosnian Islamists, would-be terrorists in Copenhagen, and British Islamists.

The British suspects who were arrested on October 21 and 22, 2005, are said to have planned to make terror attacks against the United States. Waseem Mughal of Kent is charged on 8 counts. He is accused of having a recipe for making rocket propellants and also possessing a DVD of jihadist "martyrdom operations." Younis Tsouli of West London also has 8 charges laid against him. He is accused of having a video presentation on his computer showing how to make a car bomb, and also is said to have had a picture presentation of various locations in Washington DC on his computer. Tariq al-Daour, also from west London, is accused of receiving money and assets knowing that they may be used in terrorism. All three are charged with credit card fraud. Their trial has yet to start.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 6, 2006 9:01 PM

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Posted by: Jenn at December 7, 2006 4:49 PM

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