1992 Copenhagen bombing

1992 Copenhagen bombing
Location Ydre Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark
Date 16 March 1992
11:30 am
Deaths 1
Perpetrators Unknown
Motive Far-right extremism (suspected)

The 1992 Copenhagen bombing (Danish: Søllerødgadebomben) refers to a bomb attack on the offices of the International Socialists (IS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The blast and a resulting fire destroyed the office, and killed 29-year-old Henrik Christensen. Police saw the attack as political terrorism committed by far-right extremists, but nobody has ever been convicted.

Background and attack

The far-left International Socialists (IS) party had an office for its Copenhagen department on Søllerødgade street where about 20 members were based at. Henrik Christensen was one of the IS members there. The bomb exploded around 11:30 am, shortly after Christensen had met with fellow partymate Jørgen Lund on the street. Christensen died from the blast but Lund survived.[1][2]

Investigation and perpetrators

The attack was a major case for the Danish police, and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) was also involved. However the office fire damaged traces of evidence and the authorities have been unable to find the real culprits. Detectives have believed that the explosive may have been a letter bomb.[3] Assistance from the British Scotland Yard found no detailed conclusion about the bomb, only that it was a TNT.[4] As a result, the case remains unclear.

The IS immediately assumed that neo-Nazis were responsible.[5] Some months before the bombing, neo-Nazis and Danish and Swedish anti-racists clashed during a demonstration in Lund. One theory from the detectives was that the bomb was an act of revenge from the neo-Nazis.[6]

An organisation called Free Denmark K12 (Frit Danmark K12) claimed responsibility in a letter.[7] This organisation also sent threat letters to five other Danes.[8]

In 1998, an author called Frede Farmand claimed on Danish television that he was aware of a bomb plot and warned the Danish intelligence about it in 1992. Farmand claimed he knew that Albert Larsen, a member of the neo-Nazi Partiet de Nationale. Larsen was questioned by the PET but he denied any knowledge of the bomb.[9]

On 27 April 2013, a former neo-Nazi called Kim Fredriksson told Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet he had information about the attack. According to Fredriksson, a now-deceased Danish-German member, referred to only as 'MS' from the Blood & Honour network, probably orchestrated the bombing.[10][11][12] MS was briefly jailed in 1994 after police found TATP explosives in his apartment, and he died in 2001 having suffered from cystic fibrosis.[13] Based on this new information, the Copenhagen police force reopened the case.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Partikammerat: – Jeg var den sidste, der så Henrik i live". Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  2. ↑ "A short history of right wing violence". Socialist Worker (Britain). Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  3. ↑ PET-kommissionens beretning, bind 11, side 251.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-08-11. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  5. ↑ "Soc. Revy nr. 2, s. 26: Bomben i Søllerødgade". www.socialister.dk. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  6. ↑ PET-kommissionens Beretning, bind 11, side 251-252.
  7. ↑ "Søllerødgade-bomben: Få overblikket her". Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  8. ↑ PET-kommissionens Beretning, bind 11, side 240-241.
  9. ↑ "Bomben i Søllerødgade". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  10. ↑ "Angrende nynazist: Sandheden om bombedrabet i Søllerødgade". Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  11. ↑ "Afdød nynazist hævdes at stå bag brevbombe". www.b.dk (in Danish). 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  12. ↑ "EB: Nynazister bag bombedrab". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  13. ↑ "Nazilederen Marcel Schilf død". www.b.dk (in Danish). 2001-01-24. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  14. ↑ "Politiet genåbner Søllerødgade-sagen". Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 2018-07-21.

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