Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Denmark

Denmark completed implementation of two counterterrorism legislation packages that were passed by Parliament in 2006. These new measures criminalized the recruitment of persons to terrorism and the training of others to assist in committing terrorist acts, including financing terrorism. These new counterterrorism measures enhanced the Danish government's ability to investigate and prevent terrorism and other serious crimes. In March, Parliament passed additional legislation that prohibited private persons from purchasing fertilizer with ammonium nitrate levels of more than 28 percent, which could be used for improvised explosive devices. Denmark worked closely with the United States on UN and other multilateral counterterrorism efforts, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and in international nonproliferation groups, such as PSI and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. We note however, that Roj-TV, a KGK/PKK affiliated media outlet, continued to operate in Denmark.

During the year, German law enforcement authorities arrested a number of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism. Prominent new actions and arrests included:

• On September 4, Danish police arrested eight alleged militant Islamists in Copenhagen with al-Qa'ida (AQ) links on suspicion that they were preparing explosives for use in a terror attack. Police raided 11 homes in the greater Copenhagen area during the sweep. Six of the men were released from custody, while two await trial and face possible life in prison, if convicted.
• On November 11, Danish police arrested a foreign-born resident in Copenhagen on charges of urging terror groups abroad to kidnap Danish nationals. The 22-year-old suspect had links to two men arrested on terrorism charges in Copenhagen on September 4 (see above). Danish officials stated that the man arrested in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen had apparently hoped that by kidnapping Danish citizens abroad, pressure could be exerted on Danish authorities to release the two suspects. The man remained in police custody awaiting trial.

Key judicial proceedings involving Islamic terrorism related crimes included:

• In January, the State Prosecutor's office dropped charges against a group of Danish imams who traveled to the Middle East in 2005, due to lack of evidence that they broke any laws in their alleged efforts to convince Muslims to protest against the publication of the Mohammed cartoons. The decision to drop the charges cleared the group of any responsibility for attacks on Danish embassies in Syria and Lebanon at the start of 2006.
• In February, a Danish court convicted four men charged with planning a terrorist attack, which marked the country's first trial under 2002 counterterrorism legislation. The men, all Muslims born in Denmark, were arrested in 2005 in the Copenhagen suburb of Glostrup, on charges of attempting to conduct terrorist acts in cooperation with two men arrested in Bosnia. On February 15th, 2007, however, a panel of judges overturned the verdict for three of the suspects due to insufficient evidence. The guilty verdict for the fourth suspect, 17-year-old Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, was upheld. Abu-Lifa was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, which was upheld by a Danish Supreme Court decision in October. In July, the public prosecutor in Copenhagen decided to proceed with a re-trial for one of the three suspects whose conviction had been overruled by the judges.
• On March 28, Copenhagen City Court acquitted two leading members of the Danish branch of the Al-Aqsa Foundation of charges of supporting terrorism. The men were indicted in 2003 for funneling money collected in Denmark, ostensibly for humanitarian purposes, to terrorist-related groups abroad. Danish authorities seized approximately $89,406 in funds from the organization. The court ruled that the evidence against the group's president and treasurer was insufficient to establish a connection between the funds collected by Al-Aqsa in Denmark and HAMAS.
• On April 11, Copenhagen City Court convicted Said Mansour of inciting terrorism and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison. Mansour, a Danish citizen originally from Morocco, was arrested in September 2005 by Danish police for making and distributing DVDs and videos throughout Europe that showed beheadings and killings and called for a violent jihad against the Western world. The case marked the first conviction under 2002 counterterrorism legislation prohibiting the promotion of terrorism on Danish soil. Mansour previously served a 90-day sentence from December 2004 on weapons possession charges.
• On November 23, the Danish High Court convicted three men under national counterterrorism legislation for planning terrorist acts. Two foreign-born residents received 11-year prison sentences, while a Danish convert to Islam received a four-year sentence. A fourth defendant was acquitted after the presiding judge refused to consider a lesser charge. The men were among nine individuals arrested in September 2006, in Vollsmose, a suburb of Denmark's third-largest city, Odense, on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. Prosecutors charged four of the nine with plotting acts of terrorism after finding laboratory equipment, chemicals, and explosives in their possession.
• On December 20, a Copenhagen municipal court acquitted seven people accused of supporting terrorism by transferring a portion of the proceeds of the sale of T-shirts to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), both of which are EU- and U.S.-listed terrorist groups. Two of the three presiding judges in the case ruled that, while there was evidence to show that the FARC and the PFLP had carried out criminal actions, it was not possible to determine whether they were terrorist groups. The dissenting judge stated that the FARC did constitute a terrorist organization. The accused included five employees of "Fighters+Lovers", the clothing company that made the T-shirts, a man who owned the server that hosted its website, and a hot dog vendor who posted an advertisement for the shirts. Danish police shut down the company in February 2006, a month after it began selling T-shirts with PFLP and FARC logos, and confiscated all intended donations to the two groups. Prosecutors appealed the ruling in late December.
• Danish authorities concluded their terror-finance case against Patrick MacManus, the spokesman of the Danish NGO, "Oprør" (Revolt), and await a ruling by the Danish High Court. MacManus was indicted in October 2005 for violating Danish counterterrorism legislation by transferring approximately $17,000 to the FARC and the PFLP. In 2005, MacManus informed local media that the group's actions were a means to challenge Denmark's counterterrorism laws.

Denmark withdrew nearly all of its 450 troops from southern Iraq at the end of 2007. The Danish government increased its contribution to Afghanistan, raising its forces to more than 750 as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Most of these are engaged in challenging Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan.