Norwegian court convicts three in connection with Al Qaeda plot to attack Danish newspaper
One of three men suspected of planning an attack on the Danish newspaper that printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd residing in Norway, sits on November 15, 2011 in court with his lawyers Arvid Sjoedin (L) and Brynjar Meling at the opening of his trial in Oslo. The three men pleaded not guilty and denied the charges of “conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack” and “possession of materials used to make explosives”. According to the prosecution, the trio first planned and prepared an attack against the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, and then the target switched to caricaturist Kurt Westergaard whom they planned to kill.
AFP PHOTO / BERIT ROALD (Photo credit should read BERIT ROALD/AFP/Getty Images)
Mikael Davud, a Norwegian of Chinese Muslim origin, was convicted on Monday of planning an attack on a Danish newspaper, according to Reuters. Two co-defendants, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak and David Jakobsen, were also convicted on lesser charges.
Davud, who allegedly had ties to Al Qaeda, is accused of leading a plot to bomb a Danish newspaper that had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, reported the Associated Press.
Investigators said the plot was linked to thwarted attacks on the New York City metro and a shopping mall in Manchester, England, in 2009.
Davud was sentenced to seven years in prison, Bujak to three and a half years and Jakobsen, an Uzbek with Norwegian residency, to four months, according to Reuters. Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said Davud had “planned the attack together with Al Qaeda,” according to the AP.
Davud denied links to Al Qaeda and admitted that he intended to attack sites like the Chinese embassy in Oslo, stating he wanted revenge for the oppression of a Muslim minority in China. He was only charged with the Danish newspaper plot.
Jyllands-Posten is the Danish newspaper which sparked controversy and protests in 2005 with the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in caricatures. The global protests spread through Muslim countries making Danish embassies the targets of arson, according to Bloomberg.
More on GlobalPost: Charlie Hebdo, French newspaper, fire bombed over Prophet Mohammad cartoon
These convictions are the first under Norwegian anti-terror laws which came into effect in 2002, under which prosecutors have to prove conspiracy between two or three people to carry out an attack. The men were arrested in 2010.
More on GlobalPost: 5 arrested over terror plot in Denmark
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