Denmark 2023
12/01/2023: The Eastern High Court lowered the sentence from six years to five years of prison to Adam Touhou who previously was tried in September 2021 and appealed the verdict afterwards. He will nonetheless be expelled permanently from the country. (Source)
28/02/2023: The Kolding Court sentenced Elmina Aljic, a 38-year-old woman to four years of prison and stripped of her Danish nationality for promoting IS by living as a housewife in Syria. She was among the women repatriated by Danish authorities in October 2021. In 2015, she traveled with her husband and six children to Syria, where she was a housewife in Raqqa. She appealed the decision to the High Court. (Source)
21/03/2023: Danish authorities have published the 2023 Assessment of the Terrorist Threat to Denmark. Assessments remain quite the same from those made in 2022 following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, with IS and Al-Qaeda still aiming at conducting attacks in Western countries and trying to influence potential recruits or lone wolf actors by exploiting societal issues concerning Islam in European democracies. The report concludes that the overall terror threat level remains serious. The primary threat continues to come from Islamism, which is considered the most acute and persistent form of terrorism facing Denmark. The threat remains high despite a weakened operational capacity of groups like IS and Al-Qaeda. These groups still maintain a strong intention to carry out attacks in the West, including Denmark. Events such as the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan have expanded the operating space for these groups. Even though coordinated attacks are now less likely, propaganda continues to inspire individuals, especially online, where younger individuals may be drawn into radicalization and recruited into extremist narratives. The most likely form of Islamist terrorism attack in Denmark is one carried out by a lone actor or small group using easily accessible weapons like knives, firearms, or homemade explosives. Target selection is often influenced by extremist propaganda, copycat behavior, or personal networks. Potential targets include symbolic locations such as Jewish or LGBTQ+ venues, public spaces, and government institutions. Notably, the report highlights a growing negative focus on LGBTQ+ communities in militant Islamist propaganda, using the 2022 Oslo attack as a recent example of this trend. The report emphasizes that Islamist environments in Denmark are present both physically—especially in major urban centers—and virtually, where anonymity facilitates the spread of radical content. These environments often serve as “echo chambers”, reinforcing extremist views among like-minded individuals. There is a clear male dominance in these groups, which are mostly Sunni and multiethnic. Some links also exist between criminal and extremist Islamist environments, although these are usually based on shared backgrounds rather than ideological alignment.
Perceived offenses against Islam, such as Quran burnings or cartoons, continue to serve as radicalization triggers. These events are often referenced in propaganda and can inspire attacks long after the incidents. For example, the attack on Salman Rushdie in 2022 is cited as a delayed reaction to past grievances. There is concern about radicalized individuals within prisons and the potential for them to carry out or support terrorist acts both during incarceration and after release. Similarly, foreign fighters who travelled to Syria and Iraq, and particularly those who have returned to Denmark, pose a specific risk. Several returnees have been prosecuted and are monitored closely. Children of foreign fighters are currently considered a low risk due to their young age, though the potential for future indoctrination exists depending on their environment. Terrorism financing from Denmark also continues, with funds flowing to Islamist groups in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and other regions. While official group capabilities have diminished, external donations and the use of cryptocurrencies remain a growing concern. (Source)
02/05/2023: The Copenhagen City Court sentenced to life in prison for treason Foreign Fighter Ahmad Salem el-Haj, nephew of Jacob el-Ali who was convicted under the treason clause in September 2022. El-Haj first joined the Khatiba 57 armed group after getting to Syria in 2013 and switched allegiance to IS for which he had previously been sentenced by a criminal court in Türkiye to 1 year and 6 months in prison. Condemned to live on a wheelchair after being injured by a bomb explosion, he later was extradited to Denmark in November 2019 and remanded in custody. He confessed joining IS' cause but claims that he was not aware that Denmark was part of the coalition against IS in 2014. Furthermore, he was convicted of terrorist threats made in 2013 in a clip where he and three other men shot at pictures of politicians Naser Khader and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, and debaters Lars Hedegaard and Ahmed Akkari. The verdict was appealed by the defendant to the High Court. (Source)
11/05/2023: A 25-year-old man was arrested under charges of promoting terrorism for violating Section 114 of the Criminal Code. His name is Mohamed Hassan Ahmed and he is a Syrian who came to Denmark as a refugee in 2015. The suspect had created and facilitated social media profiles, email accounts and telephone numbers for two people who were affiliated with IS during a period from October 2017 to March 2019. He also is charged with having been part of a group that worked for IS during a period from August 2022 to May 2023 where he allegedly have participated in the preparation and dissemination of propaganda videos on the internet. Finally, he is charged with having worked for two media groups between February 2022 and May 2023, where he created and administered 26 Telegram profiles that disseminated IS propaganda. (Source)
22/06/2023: A mother and her two children have been evacuated from the al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria and have now arrived in Denmark. This follows a decision made by the Danish government in May 2023 to offer evacuation to certain individuals held in the camp. According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the evacuation proceeded according to plan and was made possible through constructive cooperation with the Kurdish-led local administration in Syria. Upon arrival, the mother was arrested by Danish police and charged under Sections 114e and 114j of the Danish Criminal Code, which concern the promotion of terrorist activities and unlawful entry into or residence in a designated conflict zone. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated the evacuation with support from other relevant Danish authorities and the United States. Despite the mother's arrest, the family was transported together to a designated reception site for children, where the children are now under the care of the responsible municipality. (Source)
31/07/2023: PET admitted in an email to TV2 that the recent Quran burnings in Denmark have led to significant negative attention from militant Islamists that may in all likelihood retaliate and put national security at stake, increasing insecurity in the current level of threat set on "Significant" without further comments about any concrete threat in the time being. (Source)
04/08/2023: As tensions grow following the several Quran burnings in Sweden which have a potential impact on national security according to PET assessments, Danish police has enforced stricter border controls with Germany and Sweden until August 10, 2023. (Source)
15/08/2023: Following the burning of the Quran by protesters on July 24, 2023 around the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen, Al-Qaeda has sent a declaration of war to Denmark and Sweden and called for attacks in those countries. According to Jacob Kaarsbo, analyst at the think tank Europa, this declaration of war is the most serious threat since the Muhammad crisis in 2008. (Source)
PET deemed that this statement has heightened the terrorist threat in Denmark and is monitoring closely the development of the situation to take the necessary security measures in cooperation with relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the security of Danish embassies abroad. (Source)
17/08/2023: In reaction to the raise of the Terrorism Threat Assessment level by Swedish authorities on August 17, 2023 following the burnings of the Quran and the explicit threats of retaliations expressed by Al-Qaeda, Danish PET stated that it is not raising the threat level in Denmark even if the threat has been heightened in the current level. (Source)
24/08/2023: Convicted Danish Jihadist Ahmed Samsam sued PET and the Danish military intelligence service to make them acknowledge him as an undercover agent. Samsam left Denmark to join Kata'ib al-Iman against Bashar al-Assad in Syria for the first time in 2012. Upon his return to Denmark his case was neglected yet he managed to sneak back to Syria in 2013 and 2014 where he fought among IS forces. However he claims that he has been in Syria on behalf of Danish Intelligence services to collect information on IS. He was sentenced by a Spanish Court to eight years of prison in 2018 after Jihadist content was found in his cellphone. (Source)
The High Court ruled against his allegations on November 8, 2023 yet he appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court. (Source)
30/08/2023: The Western High Court upheld the four-year prison sentence of the Kolding Court against Elmina Aljic, the returnee from the so-called IS Caliphate. Although the Hight Court also upheld the decision to strip her of her Danish citizenship, she will not be deported as the previous verdict decided. Reasons to cancel the deportation mostly emphasized on her 8 children aged 2 to 18, who still are Danish citizens and as such, have rights as EU citizens that they may be deprived of should they join their mother to Bosnia. The Attorney General appealed the High Court's decision to the Supreme Court. (Source)
08/10/2023: A 26-year-old influencer named Ahmad Elchaabi caught the eye of authorities after publishing on his Snapchat profile followed by 80000 subscribers, a video praising the terrorist attack carried by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. Not only did he condone the misdeeds of Hamas fighters but he went as far as calling for greater barbary against Israeli civilians and hostages. Since Hamas is an Islamist organization on the EU's list of terrorist organizations which activities are considered as terrorist as covered by Section 114, subsection 1 of the Criminal Code, the individual was therefore charged with incitement to terrorism by authorities on October 16, 2023. (Source)
12/10/2023: The Court of Frederiksberg sentenced to four years of prison Sille Bøgild Hansen who returned from Afghanistan in December 2021 and was tried since August 21, 2023 as she was charged with promoting the activities of the local IS branch, ISKP. She pleaded not guilty and claimed that she was manipulated all along and she did not wish to enter into Afghani territory. Converted to Islam when she was 18-year-old, she married a notorious Pakistani Islamist militant who served six months in prison for sharing a link on Facebook that led to a speech by an IS spokesman, who in the video called for attacks on Western countries in 2014. He reportedly died as an ISKP fighter in a bomb attack in Afghanistan. Her testimony failed to convince the judges of her innocence. (Source)
17/10/2023: In reaction to the terrorist attack that occured in Belgium on October 16, 2023 where two Swedes were shot dead by a Tunisian terrorist and asylum seeker previously affiliated to Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia, PET announced that a number of security measures at selected Swedish interests in Denmark were intiated in cooperation with relevant Danish authorities. (Source)
18/11/2023: PET has tightened the Threat Assessment initially made in March 2023 in the context of conflict in Israel and Gaza and the desecrations of the Quran. Operational recommendations were made to the police forces notably the need for special attention towards Israeli, Jewish and Palestinian activities in Denmark. (Source)
However, researcher Tore Hamming rather deems that the threat is greater and more serious than what PET wants to admit as the ongoing conflict in Gaza tends to whip up the spirits of those willing to mobilize and indulge into violent actions against Jews and Denmark. Most of them reportedly are sympathizers of IS and Hizb ut-Tahrir. (Source)
Those concerns are further supported by Think Tank Europa security expert and senior analyst, Jacob Kaarsbo who points out demonstrators shouting "Jihad" in the streets of Copenhagen to express their support for the Palestinian cause. Although ambiguous, this call was worrisome enough to catch the interest of Danish authorities which are now keeping a sharp lookout on demonstrations. (Source)
14/12/2023: An anti-terrorist operation conducted by PET and five different police districts, arrested three persons a young man, a young woman and a middle-aged man under suspicions of being part of a network planning a terrorist attack in Denmark with a a particular focus on Jewish locations. A total of seven defense attorneys have appeared for the constitutional hearing in court. Four of them represent people who have been charged in absentia. The middle-aged man is reportedly well-known among people with a Middle Eastern background in Copenhagen, however the three of them are allegedly linked to the banned gang Loyal to Familia (LTF). On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office claims that the suspects have links to Hamas, and that Danish police have uncovered a Hamas network on European soil. (Source)
22/12/2023: Danish media Berlingske reported that a very violent Telegram group named "Rise o Muslim" created by an anonymous Danish admin following the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas in Israel and gathering around 750 extremist members, was a potential breeding groung for Islamist radicalization. Members of the group gloat over the slaughter of Jews during the Hamas attack and reportedly called for Allah to "break the back" of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Danish-Palestinian terrorist Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who was behind the terrorist attack on the Synagogue and the Powder Keg in 2015 was also praised within the chat. Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard expressed concern and refered to this case as “a growing problem” . (Source)