Lawsuits | A man convicted of being a member of ISIS asserts that he acted as a Danish spy in Syria

Foreign countries|Lawsuits

in Denmark the trial begins today in the case of a Danish man sentenced to prison for his connections to Isis, in which the man claims to have worked close to a terrorist organization as a spy on behalf of the Danish intelligence agencies.

Today he is 34 years old Ahmed Samsam was arrested on suspicion of being a member of the extremist organization Isis in 2017 in Spain. According to the Spanish authorities, Samsam, who is of Syrian origin, had fought in the ranks of ISIS in Syria between 2012 and 2014, in addition to which he had assisted the terrorist organization in obtaining funding and weapons.

He was sentenced in Spain in 2018 for supporting a terrorist organization to eight years in prison, which he has been serving in Denmark since 2020.

However, Samsam claims that he worked in Syria first as a spy for the Danish intelligence service and later for the signal intelligence agency of the Danish Defense Forces. He said that his task was to observe foreign fighters in the ranks of ISIS.

Intelligence services have not admitted that Samsam worked for them.

Among other things Danish public radio and a Danish magazine Berlingske have reached out to sources who say Ahmed Samsam was actually a spy working for the Danes.

Samsam has sued the intelligence agencies. He is trying to get recognition from the intelligence services for his role in their service through the courts.

The revelation of his role as a spy could affect his previous sentence in Spain. However, a full reversal of the sentence would not necessarily be possible, as there are other ambiguities in Samsam’s background.

In Spain, the trial dealt with, for example, messages sent by Samsam to his close circle, which repeated ISIS propaganda. These messages were sent years after Samsam claimed to have stopped working for the intelligence services.