The defence attorney for one of the two men held in custody suspected of planning a domestic-terror attack has dismissed private messages between the suspects as a “failed attempt at humour.” He does not believe that either of the men will be charged with planning a terrorist attack, Vísir reports.
Custody extended by four weeks
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal confirmed the further four-week custody of two men arrested last month suspected of planning a domestic-terrorism attack. According to the police, the suspects had hoarded numerous weapons – including dozens of semi-automatic guns and 3D-printed components – alongside a considerable amount of ammunition. The men had also discussed carrying out attacks against political figures, among them Minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson and Chairman of Efling, Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir.
“Having spoken with my client, it appears that the police got ahead of itself in their press conferences and the like. It appears as if this is a matter of a firearms violation,” Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, the new defence attorney for one of the suspects, told Vísir.
Sveinn Andri stated that his client admits to weapons offences but that the men were not planning a real domestic-terror attack, suggesting that that charge rests solely on the evidence of private messages: “It was merely a failed attempt at humour by these two boys; the idea that they had been planning an act of terrorism on public chatrooms, that just doesn’t hold any water.”
“My client is a harmless wretch who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s as far from a terrorist as one can imagine. He has no interest in politics, believes that the Pirates are actual buccaneers and not a political party, and so on, and so forth.”
When asked if he believed that the court’s primary task would be to decide whether or not private messages between the two men were “failed attempts at humour,” Sveinn replied that he was altogether unsure whether the charge of planning a terrorist attack would be brought against the two suspects.
“I’m not sure that it’ll go as far as that; my feeling is that, in the end, they’ll be charged for weapons offences to which they will then admit.”
