The Danish Supreme Court rules on the Ahmed Samsam case and condemns the intelligence services.
According to local media, the Supreme Court in Copenhagen issued a landmark ruling on Tuesday in the case of Ahmed Samsam, confirming that the Military Intelligence Service (FE) and the Police Intelligence Service (PET) cooperated with him during his trips to Syria between 2013 and 2014, and paid him money in exchange for providing him with information about Danish fighters in the ranks of armed organizations there.
Unprecedented ruling: Seven judges on the panel
The Supreme Court emphasized that the case was of a special nature and had fundamental implications, therefore it included seven judges instead of the usual five. René Offersen, Samsam's lawyer, told the Ritzau news agency that this decision "gives my client the assurance that the court is making every effort to ensure a fair trial and protect his rights.".
The court also ruled that the PET and FE devices are obligated to pay half a million Danish kroner to the state treasury.
Read also | DR report: Ahmed Samsam sues Danish intelligence over his terrorism conviction
Ahmed Samsam: “This is a case that harms Denmark.”
Ahmed Samsam arrived at the Supreme Court via Prins Jørgens Gård Square, where he told reporters, “I hope justice will be served. I can use today’s ruling in everything,” describing the hearing as “a fateful day.” He added, “This is a case that harms Denmark.”.
Expert opinions: Controversy over intelligence oversight
According to TV2, Professor Eva Schmidt, a retired law professor from the University of Copenhagen, welcomed the move, saying: “I think it’s clear he should have been granted his rights. Even the official who was handling him as a source went to the press and confirmed it himself.” She added: “The intelligence services negotiated with him about compensation. Would they have done that if there hadn’t been any basis for cooperation?”.
Professor Frederik Waage of the University of Southern Denmark (Syddansk Universitet) said the decision was highly anticipated, explaining in statements to TV2: “It is a case that relates to a fundamental question: the extent to which the courts can control the intelligence services. Do these services operate in a legal vacuum, or is there judicial oversight even of their secret activities?”.
Background of the case: From imprisonment in Spain to acquittal in Denmark after many years
Danish citizen of Syrian origin, Ahmed Samsam, was arrested in June 2017 while on holiday in Spain, where a Spanish court sentenced him in 2018 to eight years in prison for fighting for the Islamic State between 2012 and 2014. However, several media reports revealed that he had been working for the PET and FE as an informant in Syria, and that he had received money for this, which was considered at the time to be a leak of intelligence information.
In 2020, Samsam was deported to Denmark, and his Spanish sentence was commuted to six years in prison. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit against the intelligence services seeking recognition of his work with them, but the Østre Landsret court dismissed the case in November 2023. He then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
On November 8, 2023, he was released from prison, and the legal dispute continued until the final ruling issued today.
A case that shook Denmark and played a role in parliamentary election campaigns
The case of Ahmed Samsam, who was previously a member of a gang and was convicted in multiple criminal cases, has sparked widespread controversy in Denmark, where he has been trying for years to prove that he was not a “terrorist” as the Spanish courts condemned him, but rather that he was carrying out a secret mission for the Danish intelligence services. Many parties have reacted to his case to the point that they promised voters before the previous parliamentary elections that they would demand that the government open an independent investigation into the Samsam case, given the sensitivity of the case in terms of the Danes’ confidence in their legal system, which is supposed to be transparent and fair.
Today, following the Supreme Court's decision, Samsam received official recognition confirming his cooperation with state agencies on secret missions abroad, which is seen as an important legal precedent regarding the limits of judicial oversight of intelligence agencies in Denmark.
