A 35-year-old Iraqi citizen has been detained on suspicion of preparation for terrorist offenses and aggravated participation in a terrorist organization. This is stated in documents from the Stockholm District Court.
The investigation is being conducted by the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen) under the direction of prosecutor Carl Mellberg at the National Security Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The 35-year-old man was arrested on Friday, requested to be detained on Sunday, and remanded in custody on Monday.
Secretive Prosecutor
According to the detention request, the man is suspected of preparation for terrorist offenses and aggravated participation in a terrorist organization.
“He is in custody, and I assume you have seen the outcome of the detention hearing. Beyond that, there is nothing more to say,” prosecutor Carl Mellberg told Samnytt.
Mellberg does not wish to comment on the specific nature of the suspicions or whether there are other suspects in the case.
“Let me make it simple for you: I will not be able to answer any questions you have regarding the investigation,” he said.
Not Registered Resident
The detained man is from Iraq and has never been a registered resident in Sweden. The detention hearing was conducted with the assistance of an Arabic-language interpreter.
The 35-year-old has been in Sweden since at least 2016, when the police requested the creation of a so-called coordination number for him. It is unclear whether he has applied for or been granted a residence permit. His coordination number has expired, or been suspended as it is also called.
The man now in custody has previously been convicted of crimes and appears in three entries in the criminal records register. He has been convicted of minor drug smuggling and has also received a couple of fines for traffic-related offenses.