Prosecutor asks for court to hold hijack suspect

A Swedish prosecutor today asked for a man suspected of planning to hijack a Ryanair flight to London to be held in custody.

Chief prosecutor Thomas Haeggstroem asked the court in Vaesteraas to hold 29-year-old Kerim Chatty while he continues his investigation.

Haeggstroem had faced a September 16 deadline to file formal charges, but his spokesman Magnus Nordangaard said the preliminary investigation was not finished yet.

“The reason is the large number of hearings of witnesses and other measures that have to be carried out,” Nordangaard said.

Chatty was arrested on August 29 at Vaesteraas airport after security officials found a gun in his carry-on luggage.

He was preparing to board the flight on his way to an Islamic conference in Birmingham.

Chatty admitted possessing the gun but denied planning to hijack the plane.

A hearing on the request will be held later today in Vaesteraas, 60 miles northwest of the capital Stockholm.

An appeals court ruled 10 days ago that Chatty should be kept in jail while prosecutors prepare formal charges of planning to hijack a plane and illegal possession of a weapon.

The district court can decide to release Chatty or keep him in custody on either of the charges. The process can be repeated every two weeks under Swedish law. Chatty is being held in a jail in Stockholm.