Danish/Irish author given six month suspended sentence for drumming up financial support for outlawed organisations


The case against Patrick MacManus, 65, has been a laborious one. The Danish author, originally from Ireland, was accused of helping raise funds for groups deemed to be illegal terrorist organisations through a collection in 2004.

Through his work with Foreningen Oprør (Rebellion Association), MacManus tried to draw attention to controversial terror legislation introduced in Denmark and questioned what constituted a terrorist organisation.

The case for the public prosecutor, which had even garnered the support of the justice minister, argued that MacManus had spearheaded a campaign that eventually raised and transferred 100,000 kroner to the Colombian group FARC and the Palestinian PFLP. Both organisations are on the EU list of terror organisations.

A picture was circulated of a number of people wearing tee-shirts with the Oprør logo allegedly handing over the cash in a shopping bag to Colombian rebels in the jungle.

However, MacManus’s lawyer Thorkild Høyer told Copenhagen City Court at the end of January that the picture was a PR stunt.

‘Oprør and Patrick have acted solely with the intention of putting the terror legislation to debate. There’s no evidence that the money was collected or transferred to FARC and PFLP, the “jungle picture” could have been taken in Frederiksberg Park and it’s impossible to see if the money is Monopoly money,’ he said.

MacManus’s case had been put on hold while a related trial had taken place involving a support organisation Fighters+Lovers that had sold tee-shirts with FARC and PFLP logos.

The defendants in that case were initially acquitted as the city court felt it had not been established that the two groups were terror organisations. The High Court later overturned that ruling and the six defendants are now appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.

The trial of MacManus was due to come before the courts in 2007, but delayed after he became severely ill.

However, his case was finally decided by the courts today, and he was found guilty of collecting funds on behalf of illegal organisations and of encouraging support for them. But the court ruled that no evidence was found that the money had actually been transferred to the organisations.

MacManus was given a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay 55,000 kroner in costs. He is currently deciding with his lawyer whether to appeal the ruling.
But the author said today that he’s determined not to give up the fight.

‘We will continue. This won’t stop me and won’t stop us until we have put a stop to the crisis that has been created by the terror legislation,’ he said.

According to MacManus, the legislation is antidemocratic as it prevents people from supporting repressed people and their campaign for freedom. The organisation says that FARC and PFLP are fighting for legitimate human rights in Colombia and Palestine.

His lawyer told The Copenhagen Post he was not surprised by today’s ruling, following the High Court’s decision in the Fighters+Lovers case.

Describing the terror legislation as ‘unclear’, Høyer said that ‘parliament should look at the legislation again and clarify it so citizens know what they are allowed to do if they want to financially support an organisation’.