Denmark’s top prosecutor Svend Ulrik Larsen said Friday that the suspects wanted to destabilize the country and frighten the population in the arson attacks in 2010 and 2011. They were arrested last year.

“We consider this as a very serious case,” prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said in a live television interview. “Their targets were public institutions and private companies.”

The arson and arson attempts include the police academy, the intelligence agency, the national police’s data center, two Danish banks, three companies selling mink furs and the Nordic headquarters of the Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA. No one was injured and damages were minor.

The group also was charged with planned arson against two government offices and a military facility, among others.

Denmark’s intelligence service believes the men, aged between 21 and 24, belong to extremist left-wing groups. Their names were not released because of a court ban.

If found guilty the men face life sentences, which in Denmark generally means serving 16 years in prison. The trial is set to begin in October. It is unclear how the five defendants will plead.