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Copenhagen terror suspects kept in custody

TT/The Local/vt
TT/The Local/vt - [email protected]
Copenhagen terror suspects kept in custody

The three men from Sweden who are suspected of planning a terrorist attack against Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in Copenhagen will remain in custody for at least another four weeks.

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They will also be kept in isolation, the court decided in Glostrup, Denmark. Prosecutor Helene Schröder's demand that the men should remain in custody for another four weeks was granted by the court.

Heavily armed police in bulletproof vests guarded the district court in Glostrup where the detention deliberations were held, according to news agency TT on Thursday.

Visitors who wished to follow the open parts of the hearing had to undergo extensive security controls and were forced to deposit both computers and telephones. The men, who were arrested on December 29th, have consistently denied the charges.

None of the suspects spoke during the hearing, carried out with a Swedish interpreter, Schröder told TT. She added that given the present situation, it is very difficult to estimate how long the investigation will take.

The requirement for continued isolation is because the case involves a serious crime, she explained.

"It is because the crime is so serious in nature. We do not want information to either leak in or out of jail," said Schröder.

The investigation is being conducted with close contact with Swedish police and prosecutors.

"The cooperation is going very well. We have worked together on many major investigations now and have started to get a feel for each other's legal systems," said Schröder.

Lawyer Charlotte Møller Larsen is defending one of the suspects. The man spoke with her, but otherwise remained silent during the hearing.

"He says that he is innocent and he has no explanation as to why he was in Denmark at the time," she said.

She also attempted to remove the condition for detention in isolation, but was unsuccessful.

"It is a tough strain to sit isolated, but he is managing it well," said Møller Larsen.

It is unlikely that any extraditions will take place at the present time, neither of the three men detained in Denmark to Sweden or the man who currently held in Stockholm to Denmark, according to Schröder.

None of the three suspects' friends or relatives were present. However, there was a massive police presence in place.

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