Monday December 2, 2024
Swedish prosecutors said Monday they had charged three people with alleged ties to the Islamic State (IS) of plotting terrorist acts, including against Jewish interests, and seeking minors to carry them out.
The trio, as well as a fourth suspect, were also charged with being members of IS, which Sweden has proscribed as a terrorist organisation, and aggravated weapons offences, the Swedish Prosecution Agency and intelligence service Sapo said in separate statements.
Among the four were two brothers aged 23 and 25, who converted to Islam shortly before their arrest.
The eldest received instructions from IS in Somalia to "kill as many infidels as possible, with Jewish targets as the main targets", according to the indictment.
Sapo had wiretapped the group, and the brothers were heard talking about looking for minors under the age of 18 "ready to die as martyrs" and who would "kill many", the indictment showed.
They discussed targets including "the government, police, intelligence agency, (and) synagogues, in order to harm the government and society as much as possible", it said.
Sapo said the case also had links to an organised criminal gang in the Stockholm suburb of Tyreso, which supplied the group with a firearm and electric stun gun.
"The investigation shows that the terrorism crime has an international connection to IS, primarily IS in Somalia, but also to people being investigated for terrorism abroad," the Prosecution Authority said.
"The people in the case have had different roles, but all of them have ties to an Islamic cultural association in Tyreso," it added.
The four were arrested in raids in March and April, according to Sapo.
All four, who remain in custody, have denied responsibility.
A fifth person who was held in custody was released in October and is no longer considered a suspect.