Daily Times

ACopenhagen court is to rule Wednesday in the case of a man jailed for joining Islamic State who wants Danish intelligence agencies to admit he was an undercover agent.

Ahmed Samsam, a 34-year-old Danish national of Syrian origin, has captivated the Scandinavian nation with his attempt to force the PET secret services and FE military intelligence to state that he provided information on foreign militant fighters when in Syria in 2013 and 2014.

Samsam is already serving an eight-year jail term imposed by a Spanish court for being an IS member. A victory would help fight that conviction.

Danish media investigations, based on anonymous sources and evidence of bank transfers, have backed Samsam’s case. But the intelligence agencies have insisted they cannot confirm the identities of their informants. “It’s a question of national security,” Peter Biering, a lawyer for the PET and FE told proceedings held in August.

The agencies have to protect sources and “prevent terrorism,” Biering added. Samsam said he went to Spain in 2017 following gangland threats not related to Syria.

He was arrested by Spanish police who had found pictures of him on Facebook posing with the IS flag.

Samsam has never denied travelling to his home country during the civil war that erupted in 2011 but insisted throughout his trial that he had been an informer rather than a militant. Samsam’s case is that he left Denmark in 2012 to fight Bashar al-Assad’s government. On his return, he was investigated by Danish authorities but the case was closed.