real6
29-09-2008, 04:31 PM
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/109268.html
Decision overturns T-shirt terror acquittal
New user?
Login
Password:
Search articles
25.09.2008 Print article (IE & NS 4+)
Six people face jail for selling T-shirts to aid Colombian and Palestinian rebel groups
Six people were convicted last week of violating Denmark�s anti-terror law by selling T-shirts that support militant organisations.
The Fighters + Lovers activist group produced T-shirts which helped raise funds for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Both groups are listed as terrorist organisations by the EU and the US.
Five employees of the T-shirt company were sentenced to between two and six months in prison. A sixth defendant got two months for hosting the company�s website on his server.
The seventh defendant, a hot-dog vendor who hung a poster advertising the T-shirts on his stand, was acquitted.
The defendants raised 25,000 kroner for the two groups, which was to help fund a FARC radio station and a PFLP poster printing shop. Police intercepted the money before it could be transferred.
All seven had previously been acquitted by the Copenhagen Municipal Court in December, because the judges felt that FARC and PFLP did not constitute terrorist organisations.
Five of the six judges at the Eastern High Court disagreed and concluded that killing civilians in their fight against the authorities in Columbia and Israel meant the two groups are terrorists. By supporting them, the defendants broke Denmark�s anti-terrorism law.
Michael Sch�lardt, head of Fighter + Lovers, was one of two sentenced to six months in prison. The defence team plan to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
�I�m obviously very affected by the ruling, which has hit me hard on a personal level. But I will work towards keeping the solidarity campaign going,� said Sch�lardt.
Patrick MacManus, an Irish immigrant who is also facing trial on similar charges, was in court for the ruling.
His case was put on hold, pending the outcome of the Eastern High Court�s decision last week.
�The case against me is much more serious, because it involves 100,000 kroner�s worth of support for FARC and PFLP, and because I am also accused of urging 200 other international organisations to offer their support,� MacManus said.
Fact file | Fighters + Lovers
January 2006: Copenhagen-based Fighters + Lovers begins selling T-shirts emblazoned with FARC and PFLP insignia. A part of the company�s profits were intended to be sent to the two groups, which the EU says support terrorism
February 2006: Police arrest seven employees before the 25,000 kroner the company has collected can be sent
March 2006: Then-Justice Minister Lene Espersen allows the seven to be charged for violating the tough anti-terrorism laws passed in the wake of the 11 September terror attacks
December 2007: All seven are acquitted by Copenhagen Municipal Court. The court ruled that it had not been proven that FARC and PFLP were terrorist organisations. The district attorney appeals the decision to the Eastern High Court
June 2008: New trial begins
September 2008: Eastern High Court finds six of the defendants guilty. An appeal is planned
Decision overturns T-shirt terror acquittal
New user?
Login
Password:
Search articles
25.09.2008 Print article (IE & NS 4+)
Six people face jail for selling T-shirts to aid Colombian and Palestinian rebel groups
Six people were convicted last week of violating Denmark�s anti-terror law by selling T-shirts that support militant organisations.
The Fighters + Lovers activist group produced T-shirts which helped raise funds for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Both groups are listed as terrorist organisations by the EU and the US.
Five employees of the T-shirt company were sentenced to between two and six months in prison. A sixth defendant got two months for hosting the company�s website on his server.
The seventh defendant, a hot-dog vendor who hung a poster advertising the T-shirts on his stand, was acquitted.
The defendants raised 25,000 kroner for the two groups, which was to help fund a FARC radio station and a PFLP poster printing shop. Police intercepted the money before it could be transferred.
All seven had previously been acquitted by the Copenhagen Municipal Court in December, because the judges felt that FARC and PFLP did not constitute terrorist organisations.
Five of the six judges at the Eastern High Court disagreed and concluded that killing civilians in their fight against the authorities in Columbia and Israel meant the two groups are terrorists. By supporting them, the defendants broke Denmark�s anti-terrorism law.
Michael Sch�lardt, head of Fighter + Lovers, was one of two sentenced to six months in prison. The defence team plan to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
�I�m obviously very affected by the ruling, which has hit me hard on a personal level. But I will work towards keeping the solidarity campaign going,� said Sch�lardt.
Patrick MacManus, an Irish immigrant who is also facing trial on similar charges, was in court for the ruling.
His case was put on hold, pending the outcome of the Eastern High Court�s decision last week.
�The case against me is much more serious, because it involves 100,000 kroner�s worth of support for FARC and PFLP, and because I am also accused of urging 200 other international organisations to offer their support,� MacManus said.
Fact file | Fighters + Lovers
January 2006: Copenhagen-based Fighters + Lovers begins selling T-shirts emblazoned with FARC and PFLP insignia. A part of the company�s profits were intended to be sent to the two groups, which the EU says support terrorism
February 2006: Police arrest seven employees before the 25,000 kroner the company has collected can be sent
March 2006: Then-Justice Minister Lene Espersen allows the seven to be charged for violating the tough anti-terrorism laws passed in the wake of the 11 September terror attacks
December 2007: All seven are acquitted by Copenhagen Municipal Court. The court ruled that it had not been proven that FARC and PFLP were terrorist organisations. The district attorney appeals the decision to the Eastern High Court
June 2008: New trial begins
September 2008: Eastern High Court finds six of the defendants guilty. An appeal is planned