The arrest in Oslo was part of a coordinated action in the morning hours on Tuesday. A Norwegian student was also arrested in Bulgaria, according to the Police Security Service (PST). One accused is 22 years old, while the other is 18 years old. Police attorney at PST, Thomas Blom, says that both are charged with supporting a terrorist organization. – It is about support for Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda’s activities. This applies to support mainly online or on online forums, Blom says to NRK. He will not go into details about the specific support for Al Qaeda. – We saw that this business that is conducted is dangerous, and that the risk of someone doing something was great. That’s why we’re going to arrest now. Admits innocence Lawyer Per Zimmer is the defender of the man who was arrested in Oslo. – He has not been a member or engaged in any terrorist organization, so he pleads not guilty to the charges that have now been filed, Zimmer says to NRK. Per Zimmer is the defender of the man who was arrested in Oslo. He will not comment on the relationship between the two accused. Photo: Heidi Fjørtoft Klokk – Why has he agreed to imprisonment? – It was natural in a situation like this. In such cases, he would probably have been imprisoned anyway. PST has been working on this case for a while and there is no doubt that he would have been imprisoned. Both accused are related There is a family relationship between the two accused, and both are Norwegian. The arrest in Bulgaria took place on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the Norwegian prosecuting authority. – He will be the subject of a lawsuit down there that may take some time, but it will go relatively quickly before he is extradited to Norway, says Blom in PST. Both who are now charged have been investigated since the beginning of May this year, Thomas Blom informs PST. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB The student in Bulgaria is, in addition to the charge of participating in a terrorist organization, charged with other terror-related items, Blom states. In other words, they only have the charge of participating in the terrorist organization Al Qaeda in common. The man who was arrested in Oslo has been remanded in custody for 14 days with a letter and visitation ban. The custody is justified by the risk of evidence being lost. Arrested in his own home The man in Oslo was arrested in his own home. He has agreed to imprisonment, PST states. The case is therefore treated as an office business, which means that there will be no ordinary imprisonment meeting in the district court. The Norwegian student in Bulgaria was arrested in a small town outside the capital Sofia, according to Dagbladet. PST estimates that the man in Bulgaria will be extradited to Norway in 10–60 days, but it can go faster if he agrees to extradition. Photo: Morten Solem / NRK The man is charged with participating in a terrorist organization, more specifically section 136a of the Criminal Code, which applies to “anyone who forms, participates in, recruits members or provides financial or other material support to a terrorist organization”.
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Two Norwegian citizens charged for supporting Al Qaeda – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
