Group charged with terrorist support

A radical Copenhagen group has been charged with attempting to provide financial support to militant groups that the EU considers terrorist organisations, national broadcaster DR reported on Wednesday.

Police in Copenhagen charged the Rebellion Organisation (Oprør), a political group supporting rebel movements such as PFLP in Palestine and FARC in Columbia, for trying to send them money.

Group spokesman Patrick MacManus was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the appeal. He was released after questioning.

'He has been charged with breaking the criminal code on the fight against terror,' said police spokesman Magnus Andresen. 'We believe that the Rebellion Organisation has recently urged international organisation to help them collect money. That means they are collecting money (for militant groups, ed.) through international organisations.'

MacManus denied the charges, and the group reacted to his arrest by appealing to other European organisations to continue to collect money for the rebel movements.

After being released, MacManus said the request for donations would remain on the organisation's website. Demanding them to take it off would be a violation of their freedom of speech, he said.

Rebellion says that it has supported Palestinian group PFLP and Columbian guerrilla organisation FARC with donations of over DKK 50,000. The EU considers both groups as terror organisations.

Rebellion said that they felt they were within their rights to support the groups.

'We don't feel that it is illegal to transfer money to organisations such as PFLP and FARC. It should at least be decided by a court,' said MacManus.

MacManus said Oprør felt that the EU's terror list was not legally binding.

'It is a political document, a political declaration. And you can't convict someone just because PFLP and FARC are on that list,' he said.