Leading ASMLA members arrested in Denmark for espionage on behalf of Saudi Arabia
In November 2018, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) launched an investigation to determine whether three leading members of ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz) had publicly condoned acts of terrorism or committed other criminal offences. As a result of this investigation, the three leading members have now been arrested and charged with espionage in Denmark on behalf of a Saudi intelligence service.
03 February 2020
PET’s investigation has revealed that the three ASMLA members have carried out espionage activities on behalf of a Saudi intelligence service from 2012 to 2018. Among other things, they have collected infor-mation about individuals in Denmark and abroad and passed on this information to a Saudi intelligence service.
“Obviously, this is a very serious case. We cannot and will not accept that foreign states bring their mutual conflicts to this country,” says Director General Finn Borch Andersen, PET.
Since the autumn of 2018, the police has been investigating whether the three ASMLA members have vio-lated Section 136, Subsection 2, of the Danish Criminal Code by condoning acts of terrorism through positive statements about a terrorist attack in Iran in September 2018.
In this connection, the residences of the three ASMLA members were searched by the police and PET, and it was uncovered that they have been involved in espionage activities in Denmark on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
Tomorrow, the arrested individuals will be brought before the court for a preliminary statutory hearing with a view to remanding them in custody for violating Section 108, Subsection 1, of the Danish Criminal Code. The Prosecution Service will request that the hearing takes place in camera. PET therefore has no further comments on this matter.