Two Swedes charged in Denmark for tax agency blast
AFP - [email protected]
Published: 11 May, 2020 CET.
Updated: Mon 11 May 2020 19:42 CET
Two Swedish nationals were charged on Monday over a bomb blast last year targeting the tax authority in Denmark's
capital, prosecutors said, calling the action "terror-like."
The charges relate to an explosion in August 2019 that rocked Denmark's tax agency's main office in Copenhagen.
"An attack on the Danish Tax Agency is an attack on us all, and therefore this is a particularly serious case," state prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said in a statement.
The blast smashed windows and tore apart the front of the building in Copenhagen's Osterbro neighbourhood.
One person was hit by flying fragments and sought treatment at a hospital. Two people were inside the agency at the time of the explosion but escaped injury.
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According to the prosecutor's office, the two men, aged 22 and 23, had planned the attack, either alone or together with unidentified perpetrators.
The men are accused of driving a car from the bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark, transporting the bomb, to the tax office and then detonating the device on August 6, 2019.
"Fortunately, no one was injured, but the prosecution service is of the opinion that the offence is so serious it amounts to a terror-like action, and the punishment should therefore be increased," Nilas said.
If convicted, the men could face up to a life sentence in prison.
In November of 2019, Denmark, concerned about increased violence in Sweden, introduced temporary controls at its order with its Nordic neighbour in an attempt to stop people connected to organised crime or terrorism from entering the country.
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The charges relate to an explosion in August 2019 that rocked Denmark's tax agency's main office in Copenhagen.
"An attack on the Danish Tax Agency is an attack on us all, and therefore this is a particularly serious case," state prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said in a statement.
The blast smashed windows and tore apart the front of the building in Copenhagen's Osterbro neighbourhood.
One person was hit by flying fragments and sought treatment at a hospital. Two people were inside the agency at the time of the explosion but escaped injury.
READ ALSO:
- Denmark suspects two Swedes over explosion at tax authority
- Commercial explosives used in Danish Tax Agency blast: Police
- One injured after blast hits Danish Tax Agency
According to the prosecutor's office, the two men, aged 22 and 23, had planned the attack, either alone or together with unidentified perpetrators.
The men are accused of driving a car from the bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark, transporting the bomb, to the tax office and then detonating the device on August 6, 2019.
"Fortunately, no one was injured, but the prosecution service is of the opinion that the offence is so serious it amounts to a terror-like action, and the punishment should therefore be increased," Nilas said.
If convicted, the men could face up to a life sentence in prison.
In November of 2019, Denmark, concerned about increased violence in Sweden, introduced temporary controls at its order with its Nordic neighbour in an attempt to stop people connected to organised crime or terrorism from entering the country.
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