Five people detained for alleged Islamist attack plot in Sweden

Swedish police detained five men on April 4 for allegedly plotting Islamist terrorist attacks.

According to the claims of the Swedish police, it detained five suspects on April 4 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit terrorist crimes, reports the Reuters.

The plot came as part of an „international calls for attacks,” which came subsequently to a Koran-burning protest in Stockholm; a far-right activist burned a copy of the Koran in Stockholm during a protest in January, which caused major outrage in the Muslim world, also damaging Sweden’s bid to join NATO as Turkey paused the negotiations.

The police detained the five men during coordinated raids in three cities on Tuesday morning. According to the Security Service, the suspects are believed to have international links to violent Islamist extremism.

„The current case is one of several that the Security Police has worked on after the protests that were directed at Sweden in connection with the highly publicised burning of the Koran in January,” the security service said in a statement, adding that there were international calls for attacks following the protest.

In a separate statement, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that a prosecutor has until Friday to decide if the men are to remain in custody.

Since the January protest, Swedish police have denied permission for several demonstrations where the Koran would be burned. However, a Swedish court ruled on April 4 that such demonstrations are protected by the Swedish constitution, which will likely cause failure for Sweden to join NATO since Turkey said it would not ratify the country’s application as long as Koran burnings are permitted.