A 20-year-old Muslim male appeared in Swedish court today, standing accused of manufacturing a device with the intention of performing a suicide bombing in the Nordic nation.
The former trainee teacher was arrested in February after buying bomb-making equipment to construct a device that has been described as being similar to the ones used to kill six and maim hundreds at the 2013 Boston marathon. Among the materials purchased for the incomplete device were a pressure-cooker, ball bearings, and acetone bleach, a common bomb making ingredient.
The man had already been prevented from joining the Islamic State.
Prosecutor Ewamari Häggkvist told the court that the accused had “acquired, stored and compiled liquids and objects with the intent to make a suicide bomb. The criminal act prepared would have seriously hurt Sweden… We have evidence that he has bought and acquired a number of objects.
“We have seized six bottles of acetone. We can see that he has bought at least three packages of ball-bearings. He has bought a pressure cooker. He bought Christmas tree lights, the kind with a part-loop [of wire] with batteries. We have also found duct tape and an old model mobile phone, and he himself has said that he has bought three large boxes of matches.
“He has bought these with the intention of making a bomb”.
The case against the man states “the purpose of the act was to seriously intimidate a population or a population group and to seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures in Sweden”, reports Aftonbladet.
Although police seized computers belonging to the man which revealed internet searches on home bomb making and on-line conversations about his desire to become a Martyr, they have been unable to determine when and where he wanted to launch his attack.
The prosecutor said: “He says he wants to become a martyr. There is information in the investigation that he is to others would have expressed that he would explode and die in the name of God and are open to do something in Sweden… he wants to do something against the enemies of the Daesh [Islamic State]”, reports Expressen.
The man had already travelled to Turkey and twice attempted to cross to Syria with the intention of joining the Islamic State, but was stopped on both occasions said the prosecutor. The Swedish secret service ‘SAPO’ had been alerted of his departure in July 2015 by concerned friends who told them he was going to fight jihad.
The accused has not entered a plea but rejects the idea he wanted to detonate a bomb in Sweden. Although he admits he wants to become a martyr, he said he wanted to do so abroad.
While the case was being heard this morning, Swedish and Danish police struck on four more Islamic State sympathisers, taking them into custody. The four men now stand accused of wanting to join ISIS, and the police report states officers found weapons, ammunition, and Islamic State paperwork. The men will stand before judges tomorrow, reports Expressen.
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