T-shirt vendors jailed for breaking anti-terror laws

Six people who sold T-shirts to raise money for Colombian rebels and Palestinian militants have been convicted of breaking Denmark's anti-terror laws.

The defendants were associated with a Danish company that sold the T-shirts carrying the acronyms Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). Both groups are considered terrorist organisations by the EU and the US.

Denmark's Eastern High Court sentenced five employees of the company, Fighters + Lovers, to between 60 days and six months in jail after they admitted producing, selling and distributing the T-shirts. A sixth defendant was jailed for 60 days for allowing the company to use his server for its website.

The sentences were made conditional for three of the defendants, meaning they can remain free on parole. A seventh defendant, a hot-dog vendor, was acquitted. He had put up posters in his stand to promote the T-shirts.

"Now we have to keep our minds clear and find out how we can continue the fight that we have started," said Michael Schoelardt, the company's managing director, who was jailed for six months.

The defence lawyer, Thorkild Hoeyer, said he would appeal, calling the ruling "a totally insane verdict".