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Denmark’s Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the guilty verdict of three members of an Iranian separatist group convicted of promoting terrorism in Iran and collecting intelligence for an anonymous Saudi intelligence service.
The three were arrested in February 2020 in the town of Ringstead, 60 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of the Danish capital Copenhagen, and were arrested in September 2018 for a deadly attack on a military parade in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahwaz. He was found guilty of promoting terrorism in connection with the attack. .
Copenhagen’s Eastern Court said on Tuesday that the men belonged to the Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz and had collected information on individuals and organizations in Denmark and abroad, as well as on the military situation in Iran, and provided it to Saudi intelligence. .
Prosecutor Henrik Aagaard said the case highlighted “how foreign powers operate on Danish soil.”
The men, whose identities were not identified according to Danish rules, could face up to 12 years in prison. Their sentences, based on the Eastern High Court’s ruling, are expected to be announced later this year.
The Eastern High Court also confirmed the men’s February 2022 convictions by Roskilde District Court. The judgment found him guilty of terrorism financing and attempting to obtain at least another 15 million kroner from Saudi Arabia, having obtained 15 million kroner ($2.2 million). Separatist group Arabia.
The court said in a statement that most of the proceedings were held in private “due to the state’s relations with foreign powers and security considerations related to individuals.”
The Iranian government blamed separatist groups for the Ahvaz attack that killed at least 25 people. The group condemned the violence and said it was not involved in any violence.
The case was related to a 2018 Danish police investigation into an alleged Iranian plot to kill one or more opponents of the Iranian government. The operation temporarily cut off the island on which Copenhagen is located from the rest of Denmark. In the same year, the Danish Security Intelligence Service began investigating three Iranian nationals.