Copenhagen - A Copenhagen court Thursday cleared seven people of supporting terrorist-labelled groups by selling T-shirts. The seven were charged under anti-terrorism laws for using proceeds from the T-shirt sales to fund the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The activist group Fighters+Lovers said it wanted to fund a FARC radio station and a PFLP printshop.
Based on testimony from various experts, the district court said that FARC and PFLP were mainly active in Colombia and the Palestinian territories, and although they carried out killings and kidnappings, the actions were not terrorist activities under Danish law.
However, one of the three judges believed FARC had conducted terrorist activities in connection with a 2002 grenade attack on a church.
The judge also cited the kidnappings of politicians, including Ingrid Betancourt, as an attempt to destabilize the country.
Prosecutor Lone Damgaard said she would study the ruling before deciding on a possible appeal. She had called for prison sentences of between three and nine months.
One of the seven, who identified himself as Bobby Schultz told Danish news agency Ritzau that the ruling was a "massive defeat" for Justice Minister Lene Espersen.
Both FARC and PFLP have been labelled by the European Union as terrorist groups.
The activist group began selling the T-shirts over the internet in January 2006. A few weeks later, the T-shirts were seized and the bank accounts were frozen likely preventing any funds from being transferred to FARC or PFLP.
