A special Czech Police squad said on Tuesday that it broken up a multinational group of Islamic radicals who were helping to prepare terrorist actions.
Police from the special unit to combat organized crime (ÚOOZ) said they charged eight people linked to the Jamaat Shariat organization, which seeks to create an Islamic state based on Sharia law in the Russian North Caucasian republics.
Five people have been charged with helping preparations for a terrorist attack, one Chechen has been charged of having an arms cache that included sub-machine guns and a hand grenade, and two Bulgarians were charged with forging documents. ‘Individuals in the Czech Republic were tasked with assuring false papers, financial means, arms and explosives for so-called new fighters.’
“Individuals in the Czech Republic were tasked with assuring false papers, financial means, arms and explosives for so-called new fighters,” the Czech Police said in a statement.
Czech Police started following the group in mid-2008, when they were tipped off by foreign police contracts. They established close links with the police in Germany, where the Jamaat Shariat group was already established, and found out that it was shifting some of its activities from Berlin to Prague.
Detectives kept tabs on the group and eventually pounced April 6 this year after getting information that the group might move on. Seven arrests were made in the Czech Republic and two in Germany, with one woman among the arrested. Apart from the Bulgarians, the arrested came from the North Caucasus, police said.
Police said investigations are still proceeding with regard to one of the detained, believed to have been the main link between the 31-year-old Chechen and other members of the group, and two men currently outside the Czech Republic.
Czech server Novinky.cz said that it is the first time that Czech Police have charged anyone on terrorism offenses.
