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TERRORISM

Danish police link suspected terror plan to Hamas

December’s raids by Danish police and security services, in which three arrests were made in Denmark and one in the Netherlands, have connections to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, according to Danish media reports.

Published: 12 January 2024 13:55 CET
Updated: 12 January 2024 16:17 CET
Danish police link suspected terror plan to Hamas
Flemming Drejer, operative leader of the PET intelligence service (R), and Peter Dahl, senior inspector with Copenhagen Police, brief media after terrorism-related arrests in Denmark on December 14th 2023. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

A prosecutor at the Østre Landsret High Court on Friday said that the police consider that suspected plans to commit an act of terror, which formed the basis for the police raids, can be traced to Hamas.

Police and intelligence service PET believe that seven people, including two 20-year-old women, were involved in the plot.

In dramatic raids on the morning of December 14th, police ransacked homes in Aarhus and Odense, making three number arrests.

READ ALSO: What we know about police anti-terror arrests in Denmark

Three people detained as a result of the arrests remain in police custody, including the two young women as well as a 58-year-old man.

Three others are arrested in absentia, while one suspect is free after the court found there were not grounds to continue his preliminary detention.

Friday’s high court proceedings took place behind “double closed doors”, meaning the court agrees with police that no information relating to potential charges will be made public during or following the hearing, with media not permitted to be present at the hearing.

However, Special Prosecutor Anders Larsson revealed to media that investigators’ belief there are “links to Hamas” no longer need to be kept from public knowledge, according to news wire Ritzau.

Police have already confirmed suspected links to organised crime in Denmark, specifically the illegal gang “Loyal to Familia”.

The nature of the suspected link to Hamas is not further elaborated.

The 58-year-old suspect appealed to be released at Friday’s court hearing. A decision is due on Monday.

Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said on Friday that the alleged connection to Hamas “confirms that the threat against Denmark is serious, but luckily we have a strong police and intelligence service doing their best to protect us every day”.

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TERRORISM

Denmark’s terror threat ‘heightened’ by Israel-Hamas war and radicalisation risk

The terror threat in Denmark has worsened since the war between Hamas and Israel began in October last year due to an increased risk of radicalisation, according to an expert.

Published: 18 January 2024 10:56 CET
Denmark’s terror threat 'heightened' by Israel-Hamas war and radicalisation risk

In an interview with newspaper Berlingske, Michael Hamann, head of national intelligence service PET’s Centre for Terror Analysis (CTA) said the potential for radicalisation has grown during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“We have not seen a situation with such a broad basis for mobilisation and such a great radicalisation potential for many years. The intensity and violent expedition of the current conflict alone has on its own the potential to radicalise,” Hamann told Berlingske.

The heightened terror threat is likely to be a factor in 2024, he said, with Israeli attacks on Gaza ongoing and costing tens of thousands of civilian lives.

Hamann also told the newspaper that Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th was one of the “most drastic terrorist attacks since 9/11”.

The situation is concerning for Denmark, the analyst said, naming radicalisation a number of times during the interview.

READ ALSO: Why has Denmark not raised terror threat level like Sweden?

Another newspaper, Dagbladet Information, reports that CTA concluded in December that young people under the age of 18 were increasing becoming susceptible to radicalisation online.

Hamann said at the time that CTA was taking the issue serious and using resources on it.

He added that “the virtualisation of radicalisation – especially right-wing extremism – has caused us to see new groups in extremist circles which would not previously have been able to join these circles.”

READ ALSO: Danish police link suspected terror plan to Hamas

This new potential for online radicalisation could increase the terror threat against Denmark, he said.

The overall terror threat level in Denmark is, however, unchanged at level four out of five.

Hamann told Berlingske that the intensification of the terror threat after last summer’s Quran burnings, as well as the Israel-Hamas war, remains within level 4.

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