The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) was outmanoevred today after the Supreme Court determined it had been wrong to detain one of two men the Service alleged had planned to kill one of Denmark's Mohammed cartoonists.

The man was one of two men detained in the case, and while the Supreme Court said there had been grounds to detain one of the men, evidence had not been sufficiently forthcoming to support the detention of the other man.

Both men were made subjects of an administrative order to leave the country. While one of the men left Denmark voluntarily, the other remains in the country as there are fears for his safety if he returns to his own country.

Dilemma
"Today's case illustrates our dilemma in these sorts of cases. On the one hand the courts need facts in order to detain people. On the other hand there are limits as to what information the Security and Intelligence Service can present in open court. This is due to the fact that we must safeguard our sources, cooperating partners and working methods in order to continue to be an effective security service," says PET Chief Jakob Scharf.

Sources
The two men were detained on February 12 this year with a further view to deporting them.

"It was already clear at the time of their detention that a criminal case would not be possible," the Service says with reference to its duty of source protection.

It adds that an Integration Ministry working group is currently considering how to ensure that people who are considered to be a danger to the state can be deported, and how the basis upon which they are to be deported can be independently checked.