Swedish court remands teenage boy in custody over suspected terror plot
A 15-year-old boy is being held in connection with a suspected terror plot in Sweden. Another three men also remain in custody.
Remand hearings were held at Eskilstuna District Court after five men were seized in raids in the cities of Eskilstuna, Linköping and Strängnäs in central Sweden last week.
Three men, aged 24, 25 and 29, and a 15-year-old boy were remanded in custody.
A fifth man, aged 23, was released but remains a suspect.
“I’m satisfied. As for the fifth, we can only note that the district court has made its assessment of the material, and we’ll have to look at it and move on,” prosecutor Lars Hedvall told Swedish news agency TT after the hearings.
The men all deny the allegations.
They are suspected of conspiring to commit a terror crime, although the Swedish security service said when they were arrested that an attack was not believed to be imminent. The suspected plot is said to have been in the works from June 2022 until their time of the arrest, with the 15-year-old only being involved from August 30th.
The men were initially arrested on so-called “reasonable suspicion”, which is the lower degree of suspicion in Swedish law. That was increased to “probable cause” when they were remanded, with the prosecutor saying the case against them had grown stronger.
At the time of their arrest, the security service said that the suspects were linked to international “Islamic extremism”, specifically the Islamic State, and that it was one of several cases they had been investigating “in connection with the high-profile Quran burning”.
Far-right activist Rasmus Paludan in January burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy, sparking fury in Turkey and several Muslim countries. The security police said the incident made Sweden a higher priority target for terror attacks.
Comments
See Also
Remand hearings were held at Eskilstuna District Court after five men were seized in raids in the cities of Eskilstuna, Linköping and Strängnäs in central Sweden last week.
Three men, aged 24, 25 and 29, and a 15-year-old boy were remanded in custody.
A fifth man, aged 23, was released but remains a suspect.
“I’m satisfied. As for the fifth, we can only note that the district court has made its assessment of the material, and we’ll have to look at it and move on,” prosecutor Lars Hedvall told Swedish news agency TT after the hearings.
The men all deny the allegations.
They are suspected of conspiring to commit a terror crime, although the Swedish security service said when they were arrested that an attack was not believed to be imminent. The suspected plot is said to have been in the works from June 2022 until their time of the arrest, with the 15-year-old only being involved from August 30th.
The men were initially arrested on so-called “reasonable suspicion”, which is the lower degree of suspicion in Swedish law. That was increased to “probable cause” when they were remanded, with the prosecutor saying the case against them had grown stronger.
At the time of their arrest, the security service said that the suspects were linked to international “Islamic extremism”, specifically the Islamic State, and that it was one of several cases they had been investigating “in connection with the high-profile Quran burning”.
Far-right activist Rasmus Paludan in January burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy, sparking fury in Turkey and several Muslim countries. The security police said the incident made Sweden a higher priority target for terror attacks.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.