7 arrested in Ireland over Swedish cartoonist plot - 5 released

[Al-khiyal]

7 arrested in Ireland over Swedish cartoonist plot

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 9, 2010 — Police in Ireland have arrested seven people over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog. Irish police said four men and three women were detained across the south of the country in raids Tuesday morning. The force says the arrests were part of an investigation into a "conspiracy to murder an individual in another jurisdiction." The force offered the statement in response to a question about Lars Vilks, whom Britain's Press Association news agency identified as the target. Police say the investigation involved law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and several European countries. Al-Qaida put a $100,000 bounty on Vilks' head after a newspaper ran his picture of Muhammad's head on a dog's body in 2007.

[Al-khiyal]

Arrests in Cork and Waterford over murder plot

March 9, 2010 -- Gardaí have arrested five people in Waterford and two others in Cork in connection with an investigation into a conspiracy to murder a Swedish cartoonist. The cartoonist, Lars Vilks, has been threatened over his drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. The head of an al Qaeda-led group in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, posted an audio tape on the internet in September, 2007, offering $100,000 for the killing of Mr Vilks.

This morning, detectives arrested three men and two women in Waterford and Tramore and another man and woman at Ballincollig, near Cork city. A number of searches also took place. A garda spokesman said the operation was part of an investigation into a conspiracy to murder an individual in another jurisdiction. Members of the Garda National Support Services and the Special Detective Unit were also involved in this morning's operation. Gardaí say they are working closely with police forces in a number of other European countries and in the U.S.

The seven people arrested this morning range in age from their mid-20s to their late-40s. They are being questioned at garda stations in Waterford, Tramore, Dungarvan and Thomastown. All are being detained under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for them to be held for up to a week. Those in custody are originally from Morocco and Yemen, but it is understood they all have refugee status and are legally in the country.

[Al-khiyal]

Sept arrestations pour complot d'assassinat d'un caricaturiste suédois

Mardi 9 Mars 2010 -- La police irlandaise a annoncé, mardi 9 mars, avoir arrêté sept personnes – quatre hommes et trois femmes – de confession musulmane soupçonnées d'être impliquées dans un complot pour assassiner un caricaturiste suédois, qui avait dessiné le prophète Mahomet avec un corps de chien en 2007. Un quotidien de la région d'Orebro, Nerikes Allehanda, à l'ouest de Stockholm, avait publié le dessin satirique de Lars Vilks le 18 août 2007, pour accompagner un éditorial sur l'autocensure et la liberté de religion. Il l'avait préféré à un autre dessin du même auteur représentant le Christ avec un corps d'éléphant. En Suède, des manifestations avaient été organisées et un débat avait suivi dans les médias, appelant au dialogue et au respect de la liberté de la presse. Le chef de "l'Etat islamique d'Irak", Abou Omar Al-Baghdadi, autoproclamé par la branche irakienne d'Al-Qaida, avait lancé dans la foulée sur Internet un appel au meurtre de Lars Vilks et Ulf Johansson, rédacteur en chef du quotidien, moyennant une récompense de respectivement 100 000 dollars (150 000 s'il était égorgé) et 50 000 dollars.

[Al-khiyal]

Seven held over 'cartoonist plot'

March 9, 2010 -- Seven Muslims arrested in the Republic are being questioned over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog. Three men, their wives and one other man were detained in a series of raids in the south east of the country by anti-terrorist units acting on intelligence from the CIA, FBI and European agencies. Some of those arrested were originally from Algeria, Libya, the United States and Palestine and have been legally in Ireland for up to 10 years. They were allegedly involved in an international plot to murder Lars Vilks whose controversial depictions of the Muslim prophet were printed in a newspaper in 2007.

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Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004),

Entrapment

Entrapment, n. 1. A law-enforcement officer's or government agent's inducement of a person to commit a crime, by means of fraud or undue persuasion, in an attempt to later bring a criminal prosecution against that person. 2. The affirmative defense of having been so induced. • To establish entrapment (in most states), the defendant must show that he or she would not have committed the crime but for the fraud or undue persuasion. -- entrap, vb.

"Entrapment, so-called, is a relatively simple and very desirable concept which was unfortunately misnamed, with some resulting confusion. It is socially desirable for criminals to be apprehended and brought to justice. And there is nothing whatever wrong or out of place in setting traps for those bent on crime, provided the traps are not so arranged as likely to result in offenses by persons other than those who are ready to commit them. What the State cannot tolerate is having crime instigated by its officers who are charged with the duty of enforcing the law .... Obviously 'entrapment' is not the appropriate word to express the idea of official investigation of crime, but it is so firmly entrenched that it seems wiser to accept it with due explanation than attempt to supplant it ...." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 1161 (3d ed. 1982).

Derivative entrapment. Entrapment in which the government uses a private person, acting either as an agent of the government or as an unwitting participant, to induce the subject of the entrapment to commit a crime.

Objective entrapment. Entrapment as judged by focusing on egregious law-enforcement conduct, not on the defendant's predisposition.

Sentencing entrapment. Entrapment of a defendant who is predisposed to commit a lesser offense but who is unlawfully induced to commit a more serious offense that carries a more severe sentence. - Also termed sentence-factor manipulation.

U.S. 'Jihad Jane' charged with planning terror attacks in Europe

March 9, 2010 -- An American woman known as "Jihad Jane" was charged by U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday with recruiting jihadist fighters to plan terror attacks in Europe and South Asia. Colleen LaRose, a woman from suburban Philadelphia who was "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims, is also accused of agreeing to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from unnamed terrorists. Miss LaRose, who is believed to be 47, is alleged to have travelled to Sweden to carry out the killing, but it is understood she was stopped by the authorities before she could do it.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman would not confirm whether the case was related to a group of people arrested in Ireland earlier on Tuesday on suspicion of plotting against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. But a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP that Miss LaRose had targeted the Swedish cartoonist and had online discussions about her plans with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland. The official was not authorised to discuss details of the investigation.

A Justice Department statement said she was recruited over the internet by a contact who ordered her to kill the target in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world". U.S. prosecutors say Miss LaRose, who is also known as Fatima Rose, and five collaborators believed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her "blend in" while carrying out her plans. They also allegedly recruited men online "to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the internet who has who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad", said the statement.

The suspect, who faces a possible life sentence and a $1 million (£670,000) fine if convicted, is also accused of stealing a U.S. passport in order to "facilitate an act of international terrorism". She allegedly referred to herself as "Jihad Jane" in a YouTube video in which she said she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" ease the suffering of Muslims. According to the indictment, she agreed to obtain residency in a European country and marry one of the terrorists to enable him to live there. Although she has not been linked with any specific terror groups, she has been charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country. David Kris, an assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, said the case "shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance".

[Al-khiyal]

Seven arrests over alleged plot to kill Swedish cartoonist

March 10, 2010 -- Gardaí have arrested seven people as part of an international investigation into an alleged plot to kill a Swedish artist who produced a series of sketches depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. The suspects, four men and three women, are being held at Garda stations in counties Waterford and Kilkenny. They were arrested during a major search operation at 10 addresses in Waterford and Cork yesterday morning. Detectives in Ireland have been working on the case since late last year with their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, including Sweden. Those arrested yesterday are from Algeria, Croatia, Palestine, Libya and the U.S. They are aged in their mid-20s to late-40s. The Irish Times understands the suspects were taken into custody on the basis of information supplied to the Garda by the FBI that came to light after surveillance of the suspects’ communications, including e-mails. The U.S. investigators believe the alleged leader of the group is one of the Algerian men. He has been living in Ireland for the past decade.

Lars Vilks, the artist at the centre of the alleged murder conspiracy, was put under police protection in 2007 after his drawings prompted al-Qaeda to put a $100,000 bounty on his head. The sketches, originally produced for exhibition, were later published by Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, to accompany an editorial criticising galleries in Sweden for refusing to show them. Muslims in countries such as Pakistan and Iran reacted with fury to the images, which were considered particularly offensive as dogs are viewed as unclean by many Muslims. The newspaper editorial defended “Muslims’ right to freedom of religion” but argued it should not impinge on the right to “ridicule Islam’s foremost symbols – just like all other religions’ symbols”. The publication in Denmark of cartoons lampooning Muhammad, including one depicting him wearing a turban shaped as a bomb, provoked violent protests in several countries in 2006. The Swedish artist told the Associated Press he believed that the arrests in Ireland were linked to two death threats he received by telephone in January. The threats came from “a Swedish-speaking Somali”, said Mr Vilks, who is currently resident in Sweden. Garda sources said the arrests carried out here related to a plan to kill Mr Vilks in his native Sweden. “At no time has anyone in this country ever been under threat,” said one Garda source.

A group of more than 60 gardaí from Waterford and Cork were involved in yesterday’s searches of residential and business premises. They were backed by members of specialist Dublin-based Garda units including the anti-terrorism Special Detective Unit. The premises raided were in Waterford city and Tramore and in Ballincollig, Co Cork. Computers, mobile phones, discs and documents were taken away for analysis. However, no firearms or explosives or any other hazardous material was found. It is not known how far the alleged assassination plot had progressed. Garda sources who spoke to The Irish Times said none of those arrested has any known links to al-Qaeda or any other militant group. The suspects are being detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act at Garda stations in Waterford, Tramore, Dungarvan and Thomastown in Kilkenny. They can be held for up to seven days without charge.