Preparation of a terrorist attack / Four arrested in Denmark and the Netherlands

2023-12-14 15:43:43, Kosova & Bota CNA

"Three people were arrested in Denmark and another in the Netherlands on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack," Danish police said on Thursday.

Police did not say what the suspects' motives were, or whether they were linked to Islamist militants or far-right groups.

The Danish Intelligence and Security Service, PET, said in August that the threat to Denmark had greatly increased after anti-Islam activists defaced several copies of the Koran over the summer.

"The investigation has revealed that a network of people was preparing a terrorist attack," PET's Flemming Drejer said Thursday in Copenhagen.

He emphasized that the arrests and raids carried out on Thursday were made as part of an intensive investigation that the PET had carried out in cooperation with "our partners from abroad".

"Police raids are continuing across the country," he added.

The network had ties to organized crime in Denmark and abroad, including a criminal group called Loyal to Familia, or LTF, Dreyer said, but declined to say what the motives were.

"This is very serious", said the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, for the "Ritzau" news agency, in a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.

"For several years, we have seen that there are people living in Denmark who do not want us well. They are against our freedom and against Danish society," said Frederiksen.

PET has been warning of potential attacks for more than a decade. Police said they have not changed the terrorism risk rating, keeping it at 4 on a scale of 1-5.

"Those arrested in Denmark will be charged with terrorism, according to the Penal Code, and will appear before the judge", said the police./ REL