A former senior official: Ahmed Samsam must be released immediately, and parties are pressuring the government to open an investigation.

The Danish newspaper Berlingske published an article on Monday about new statements by two senior officials regarding the case of the young man Ahmed Samsam. The two officials are Michael Lönn, former head of a department in the Ministry of Justice, and Carsten Dybvad, former head of a department in the Prime Minister's Office. Both called on the government to conduct an investigation into the cooperation of the Danish intelligence services with Ahmed Samsam. Michael Lönn stated, according to the newspaper, that what is happening to Samsam is a "judicial assassination," and Carsten Dybvad said, "Ahmed Samsam must be released immediately," according to Berlingske. The two former officials added that confidence in the rule of law in Denmark is at stake when it appears that a judicial assassination has been committed against Ahmed Samsam with the approval of the three ruling parties.

The news was soon published and was endorsed by two former officials: former Director of the General Intelligence Service Jacob Scharf and Colonel Stephen Wade, who for several years was the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Read also | Convicted terrorist Ahmed Samsam: “I am on a hunger strike”

“Broken Promise” to open an investigation into the Samsam case

Samsam’s name has been featured in the media at various times, including during the election period, when parties, including parties from the current government, promised to open an investigation into the case of Ahmed Samsam, who, according to the DR website, insists that he went to Syria on assignment from Danish intelligence. The DR website states that this has been confirmed by sources and documents.

Ahmed Samsam was imprisoned in Spain in 2018 and sentenced to eight years in prison for fighting for ISIS in Syria. He has since been transferred to Innermark prison in Denmark, and a Danish court has reduced his sentence to six years.

Ahmed Samsam's lawyer filed a complaint last year. A lawsuit was filed against the Danish intelligence services demanding that they acknowledge assigning Ahmed Samsam to go to Syria.The case is expected to be considered during the coming summer.

Going back to the election campaign period, two of the three governing parties, the Venstre Liberals and the Moderates, promised that the Samsam case would be part of a future investigation by the Defense Intelligence Service, while the Social Democratic Party said it was also open to an investigation. However, this promise was not fulfilled, as the new government, after its formation, said that it saw no reason to investigate the Samsam case. This caused turmoil and objections within the Venstre Liberals and anger from several parties because of what they called a breach of the election promise and that voters had been deceived.

The parties are again demanding an investigation into the matter.

Following the publication of the statements by senior officials, Peter Skarup of the Denmark Democrats and Rosa Lund of the Unity List, along with politicians from the Conservative Party, called for an investigation into the Samsam case, saying that the government should reconsider its decision not to investigate the case, especially after Carsten Dybvad stated that Ahmed Samsam should be released immediately, and because such a message cannot be ignored when it comes from two civil servants who have been closest to the top of Danish politics for many years, according to the leader of the Conservative group, May Mercado.

The Minister of Justice's stance following the new developments

Now, despite the new developments, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard insists on not investigating the Samsam case. According to DR, the Justice Minister stated: “It generally applies to the work of intelligence services that there are things that must remain outside the public eye. There are circumstances and spaces in which intelligence services operate that require closed spaces.” When DR asked whether he could specifically do this in the committee's investigation by creating a secret, closed room where the matter could be investigated, the Justice Minister replied: “Yes, but it cannot be generally the case that every time allegations or speculations are raised in public debate, inquiry committees or something else must be set up. If we want strong intelligence services—and we do, because they help protect us all and our democracy in general—then we must also live with the paradox that there are parts of the work of these services that cannot take place in the public eye.” Based on this answer, DR concluded that the Justice Minister did not want to comment specifically on the Samsam case.