Three people were yesterday being questioned in Copenhagen for selling stickers which openly declare support for the Islamic State. The arrests come just days after a Danish mosque declared support for the Caliphate, saying: “Muslims should have their own state and we support that.”
Newsweek has reported that the three people, all members of a group known as De Humanitære Hjerter (The Humanitarian Hearts), had been selling stickers reading “Support our Ummah” (‘nation’) placed on black bows featuring the Islamic State logo for 50 kroner each (about £5.30). They were similar in design to the traditional yellow loop sold to raise funds for Danish soldiers overseas.
“We feel there is a reasonable suspicion that there may be support for a terror organisation and thus a violation of Article 114B of the Danish Penal Code,” deputy inspector Jens Møller Jensen of the Copenhagen Police said in a statement.
Danish police raided four addresses yesterday and made two arrests, including the leader of the group, Ali Daghim, and another male member of the group. A female group member also agreed to come for questioning.
No stickers were found during the raids, but 100,000 kroner and documentation of the sale of the stickers were uncovered. Daghim denies collecting money for the Islamic State, and has told TV2 that he does not condone ISIS’ violence.
In an unconnected episode, Fadi Abdallah, spokesman for the Grimhøj Mosque in Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city and main port, has openly declared support for ISIS, The Local has reported. Speaking to online media outlet Den Korte Avis, Abdallah said “An Islamic state will always be what Muslims long for, therefore we cannot help but to support the Islamic State. Even if it makes mistakes, we will just have to wait and see.
“The conditions aren’t the same down there [in Syria and Iraq, ed.] as they are here. I can fully understand why people are getting killed.”
Questioned on his comments by TV2, Abdallah reiterated his support, saying “Muslims should have their own state and we support that. Muslims should be able to govern their own state and judge other Muslims without influence from the West.” When asked about the violent acts that ISIS were committing, he replied “It is of course deplorable, and we are sorry that it has come to this.”
The mosque has long been linked with extremist Islam. Earlier this year, a police spokesman told TV2 “We can definitely say that when you go to that mosque, there is an increased risk of heading off for Syria.” Of the 100 or more men who have left Denmark to fight in Syria, 22 are known to have visited the mosque at least once.
And last July, a video was circulated that showed Abu Bilal Ismail, an imam at the mosque, calling on Allah to “destroy the Zionist Jews.”
Denmark is believed to be high on the list of targets for radical Islam. “It is an open war now. Isis has said that all infidels should be battled. They should be eliminated and soon it will be Denmark’s turn,” a Danish-Turkish jihadist identified as ÖA told Politiken. Denmark is second only to Belgium in terms of numbers of citizens fighting in Syria, per head of population.
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