Denmark 2024

08/01/2024: PET has drafted "The National Risk Assessment of Terrorism Financing". The risk assessment aims to prevent terrorism financing both in Denmark and abroad. Terrorism financing from individuals in Denmark primarily goes to militant Islamist groups in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Türkiye, and to a lesser extent Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. Concerned areas range from crypto activities, cash and high-value goods, illegal money transfer activities, to the non-profit sector. PET has initiated a number of preventive activities, including teaching, lectures, awareness and educational activities, and the risk assessment will be a central part of the further work to minimize risks associated with the financing of terrorism. (Source)

12/01/2024: Following the arrest of three individuals potentially belonging to terrorist network in December 2023 and the first investigations conducted thereafter, Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard and Danish prosecutor Anders Larsson both made statements which tend to back up rather explicitly the claims of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu according to whom the suspected terrorists were connected to Hamas. It was also confirmed that there are now a total of seven suspected of involvement in the foiled terrorist attack. (Source) 

18/01/2024: Michael Hamann, Head of the Center for Terrorism Analysis under PET, has stated that the escalation in the Middle East may give an impetus to Denmark terrorist threat since the Palestinian cause benefits from a broad mobilization base and Youth tends to get increasingly radicalized on the Internet on an unprecedented scale throughout violent contents from Gaza. (Source) 

22/02/2024: Ahmad Elchaabi, the 26-year-old influencer who was charged by authorities with supporting the terrorist activities of Hamas on his Snapchat profile in October 2023, was sentenced by the Copenhagen City Court to 4 months of suspended imprisonment with conditions of 100 hours of community service. His trial started on February 15, 2024 and he claimed that his explicit approval of Hamas' terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 was mere sarcasm and this were all apolitical statements. This testimony failed to convince the jury. However he appealed the verdict to the Eastern High Court, which in turn, on July 1, 2024 increased the sentence to six months' unconditional imprisonment. (Source)

21/03/2024: Local authorities have published the 2023 Assessment of  the Terrorist Threat to Denmark. The security context has significantly deteriorated since last year. A number of factors have contributed to increasing the terrorist threat in 2023, namely the cases of perceived violations of Islam and the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Palestine which has escalated following Hamas' terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. Both environments function as "echo chambers", reinforcing extremist ideologies. Discussions endorsing violence usually occur in closed or coded forums. The primary terrorist threat in Denmark is likely to come from lone actors radicalized online, not from core members of physical groups. Conflicts like that between Israel and Palestinian militant groups can boost radicalization and fundraising. There are also ties between militant Islamists and criminal networks, often based on shared history or family connections, which may aid in accessing weapons or explosives. However, criminal groups generally avoid terror activities due to the increased attention it brings. Radicalization risks also exist among asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants—especially those at deportation centers like Kærshovedgård, where social ties may lead to extremist influence. Some deported or released individuals may seek to form new extremist networks. Terrorism financing from Denmark mostly supports groups in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Palestine. The conflict in Gaza may increase funds going to Palestine, some of which could support terrorism. Despite losing territory, IS still has financial reserves and may rely on individuals in Denmark for support, including through cryptocurrency and foreign drug trafficking. Several individuals have already been convicted in Denmark for financing terrorism. (Source)

30/04/2024: The Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the High Court regarding Elmina Aljic who was convicted in 2023 for being an IS sympathizer and promoter. The decision was once again taken on the basis that the woman's seven minor children are dependent on their mother. As such she will be indeed sentenced to four years of prison and stripped of her Danish citizenship but she will avoid deportation. (Source)

14/05/2024: The Eastern High Court has upheld the verdict previously made by the Court in Holbæk in December 2022 against Ali Al Masry who was sentenced to sixteen years of prison. His explanations about the presence of massive chemical products at his place failed to convince the judges and so his sentence was confirmed once again. Throughout the trial, a life imprisonment sentence was reportedly considered but ultimately dismissed. (Source)

23/05/2024: The Eastern High Court upheld the verdict on the promotion of terror that the Copenhagen City Court handed down in June 2022 against Mustafa Awad and Mohammad Ikram Karim who were sentenced to twelve years and six months of prison with deportation from Denmark. As for Mardiyya Kahina Birdouz, she will not be expelled as it was stated in the previous verdict. (Source)

29/05/2024: A Jewish woman's home was set on fire by a 21-year-old in Copenhagen at night  who allegedly has ties with the so-called Loyal To Familia (LTF) criminal gang. He has been charged under the terrorist section of the Danish Criminal Code on September 10, 2024. The terrorist threat has already increased in Denmark as the conflict in Israel and Gaza gave a decisive impetus to it. It is implied that Jewish properties are targeted by criminal agents acting as proxies for Iran. (Source)

24/06/2024: The 18-year-old man who was arrested in April 2022 under suspicions of terrorism sympathies was sentenced by the Frederiksberg Court to four years in prison for promoting IS on Instagram. The defendant, who remanded in custody ever since he was arrested, tried to justify his activities by claiming this was all "for prank", but failed to convince the Court. (Source)  

06/08/2024: A 29-year-old man affiliated to Hizb ut-Tahrir was sentenced to nine months in prison by the Copenhagen City Court. In a speech at a demonstration in Red Square in Copenhagen on October 10, 2023, which was later published on Hizb ut-Tahrir's YouTube channel, he had said: "Remember what you have seen recently. Let it stand as a fact. Let it be an eternal memory. Teach it to your children - That it only took a handful of Muslims to expose the fragility of the occupying power. That it only took a handful of Muslims to expose its weakness". The man has appealed the sentence. (Source)

08/08/2024: A 60-year-old man previously convicted of violence, was sentenced to an unconditional sentence of five months in prison in the Copenhagen City Court for having told Danish media BT about the Hamas attack in Israel during a demonstration at Red Square in Copenhagen: "It's a great attack. We are very happy about it". (Source)

19/08/2024: The Danish police stated that they have received a total of around 150 reports that citizens have violated the Criminal Code which prohibits public approval of a specific terrorist act, by publicly expressing sympathy for Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Not all cases could be proven to be suitable for criminal prosecution, so charges have been filed in 13 cases out of the 64 cases presented to the prosecution, and dropped for 36 others. (Source)

The most notorious case concerned an influencer on Snapchat who was convicted of condoning terrorism in February 2024. A former imam at a mosque in Copenhagen faced the same accusations and risked being sentenced to life imprisonment after stating in a podcast on Radio 24Syv that "resistance is a necessary evil" immediately after the Hamas attack. However, he was later cleared of all charges by the Copenhagen City Court on August 22, 2024. (Source)

02/10/2024: Blasts were heard around the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen caused by hand grenades and three Swedes aged between 15 and 20 years old were detained therefater. This happened almost simultaneously with another attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in the context of escalation in the Middle-East. Swedish authorities pointed out that those operation might have been carried out by the so-called "Foxtrot network" acting as a proxy for Iran which would be the main culprit of antisemite attacks in the Nordics. Iran dismissed those accusations. (Source)

Two of the suspects, aged 17 and 19, were faced with preliminary charges of terrorism on November 7, 2024 yet they deny any wrongdoing. (Source)

06/10/2024: Danish authorities took the decision to bolster police forces to keep in check the repeated terrorist attacks carried out by Swedish young offenders against Israeli and Jewish interests in Denmark. (Source)

11/10/2024: Saer El-Jaichi, Islam scholar and visiting researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies stirred controversy for publishing on his Facebook in May and September 2024 two posts on which he expressed sympathy and admiration for Islamist figures and movements such as the terrorist organization Hezbollah, the Iranian regime and the Houthi movement in Yemen. Those praiseful comments regarding terrorist groups and controversial figures triggered much criticism from scholars as he is affiliated with an EU-funded research project on "Cross-border Jihadism" and some of his peers reportedly have asked to have him removed from the project. (Source)

24/10/2024: A 27-year-old woman has been charged with violating Denmark terrorism regulations. She was arrested at Copenhagen Airport with her eight-year-old son after being evacuated from the al-Roj camp in Syria. The woman is a Somali who joined IS when she was 16. According to PET, she has not contributed to combat operations, but she has "carried out activities that had contributed to maintaining and consolidating the Islamic State's position in the area". Her Danish citizenship was revoked but her son retained it either way. She actually only spent the first years years of her life in Denmark before moving to UK in 2014 hence the embarassment her unexpected return stirred among Danish political actors. She was charged with promoting IS and receiving training to commit terrorist acts, but her son has been handed over to social services. (Source) 

29/10/2024: A 16-year-old girl was sentenced to 30 days of suspended prison in the Court of Aalborg for writing “Yass” in a comment on the post on Ekstra Bladet’s Facebook page reporting the terrorist attack committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. “Yass” was followed by a smiley with heart eyes and an emoji with the Palestinian flag. The verdict has been appealed. (Source)

28/11/2024: A 50-year-old man former driving instructor and now self-employed with several shops was sentenced to five months in prison by the Copenhagen City Court for aproving the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel back in October 2023. In a podcast broadcast by the Islamic Education Association, the man had stated that "what happened on October 7 is actually commendable". The man has appealed the sentence. (Source)

17/12/2024: The Eastern High Court decided not to uphold the verdict handed down by the  the Copenhagen City Court in May 2023 against Ahmad Salem el-Haj, and acquited him of treason charges. Since the life imprisonment sentence is overturned, el-Haj is therefore sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison instead. (Source)

20/12/2024: A 29-year-old woman was sentenced to 40 days in prison in the Court in Esbjerg for writing "Best news to wake up to" followed by five emojis in the shape of the Palestinian flag in reaction to the terrorist attack conducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023. This happened in a comment on a post on Ekstra Bladet's Facebook page with the headline "Live: Israel attacked with missiles". She claimed during the trial that she does not remember writing the comment and that she did not even read the aforementioned article. (Source)