Two Swedish teenagers were charged on Thursday with possessing five hand grenades and detonating two of them on a rooftop near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, and they are currently in custody.
The teenagers, aged 16 and 19, were detained on Wednesday on a train at the main railway station in Copenhagen and pleaded not guilty during a preliminary hearing on Thursday at the Copenhagen City Court.
The prosecutor provided details of the charges, but the court has prohibited the publication of their names. The police reported that they have been remanded in custody until October 30th.
No one was injured in the two explosions, which occurred early Wednesday morning, but the building near the embassy sustained some damage, investigators said.
A third man, aged 19, was detained elsewhere in Denmark’s capital but was released after questioning, according to Danish police. It is still under investigation whether the embassy was the target of the explosions.
The explosions in Denmark’s capital followed rising tensions in the Middle East.
Israel, which has been battling the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip for nearly a year, has sent troops into southern Lebanon following months of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. On Tuesday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.
At least ten Swedes have been charged this year in Denmark for attempted murder or possession of weapons, sparking criticism over the spread of organized crime.
Swedish authorities previously stated that police had thwarted several planned attacks connected to Iranian security services using local criminal networks, a charge that Iran dismissed as “baseless.”
E.Dz.
