Samsam has since he was convicted of terrorist offenses in Spain claimed that he worked as a spy and demanded that the Danish intelligence services acknowledge it. After being rejected in the court of appeal, the Supreme Court in Denmark now gives him the right.
The court believes that it is proven that Samsam, in connection with trips to Syria, worked for the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) and the Danish Intelligence Service (FE) and provided information about Danish Syria warriors.
They have really made a mess and handled this case in a purely amateurish way. That they have let it go so far that it becomes known in the media, they can thank themselves for, says Samsam to Danish Radio in connection with the verdict.
Hours after the verdict, PET and FE confirmed that Samsam worked for them in Syria between 2013 and 2014. PET also acknowledges that they paid him for the work. The press release is described as historic in Denmark.
Wants to have the verdict reconsidered
Samsam, who is a Danish citizen with a Danish-Syrian background, was convicted in Spain in 2018 for crimes in the name of the terrorist organization IS. It is that verdict that he wants to have reconsidered with the help of evidence from the Danish justice system.
A Danish professor of administrative law at the University of Southern Denmark, Frederik Waage, believes that the Danish government must support Samsam in getting his verdict reconsidered.
It is the consequence of the verdict: that the government must support Samsam so that he gets the necessary legal assistance in Spain.
Samsam has admitted that he was in Syria in 2013 and 2014 but has always claimed that he was recruited by the Danish intelligence service, says Waage to Ritzau.
Danish Radio and the Danish newspaper Berlingske have previously questioned whether Samsam really was a terrorist. Danish Radio has, among other things, referred to source information that confirms that Samsam traveled to Syria on a mission from the Danish intelligence service.
Two years ago, he was rejected in his request in the court of appeal, Østre landsret, which chose not to take a stand on the matter.
Unique case
PET and FE have previously neither confirmed nor denied Samsam's claim, citing that they never comment on their relationships with agents.
The Supreme Court acknowledges that relationships with agents normally should be kept secret, but concludes that the case is so special that an individual citizen's interest weighs heavier than secrecy.
