The third of three men charged with planning a terrorist attack in Norway was extradited back to Norway on Wednesday, after having been arrested in Germany last week. His two alleged accomplices, arrested at the same time in Oslo, are already jailed in isolation.
Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, aged 37 and originally from Iraq, arrived in handcuffs at Oslo’s main airport at Gardermoen on a regularly scheduled Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that he was escorted off the plane by two police officers after all the other passengers had left the aircraft.
He was led to a waiting car with darkened windows and driven out of the airport under armed police escort.
Bujak, who first came to Norway as a refugee in 1999, has permanent resident status in Norway. He was said to be on holiday in Germany with his wife and two children when German police arrested him in Duisberg.
Custody hearing next
He now faces a custody hearing, similar to those held Monday for the two other terrorist suspects: David Jakobsen, originally from Uzbekistan, and Mikael Davud, an Uyghur who became a Norwegian citizen in 2007 but who reportedly doesn’t speak Norwegian and needs an interpreter to communicate with his defense attorney.
Like Jakobsen, formerly known as Abdulaif Alisjer, and Davud, formerly known as Muhammed Rashidin, Bujak denies having anything to do with a terrorist plot.
An Oslo court ordered that Davud and Jakobsen be held in custody for four weeks, the first two in complete isolation, while police continue their investigation. Jakobsen, who acted as an informant for Norway’s police intelligence unit PST, has appealed his custody order.
Jakobsen claims he went to the police late last year, reportedly after his alleged accomplices had asked him to arrange a false passport for another person, according to newspaper VG. Jakobsen didn’t realize he was already under surveillance at the time on suspicion of planning a terrorist operation. That’s why prosecutors have charged him as well, despite his cooperation in recent months.
Jakobsen’s defense attorney, Kjell T Dahl, has said he now fears for the safety of Jakobsen and his family. His accomplices reportedly aren’t aware of his role as informant.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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