The State Prosecutor in Copenhagen has announced that three out of four reports regarding public statements supporting Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7 of last year cannot be prosecuted. Since the attack, the police have received approximately 150 reports of potential violations of criminal law. So far, charges have only been brought in 13 of these cases. Subsequently, 36 cases have been dismissed by the prosecution. According to Deputy State Prosecutor Charlotte Alsing Juul, each case is determined based on an assessment of the presented evidence.
Many of the reports originate from different citizens and concern everything from comments on social media to public statements and demonstrations. To date, three cases have been brought to court, which has established that the attack on October 7 can be classified as terrorism. One influencer was sentenced to six months in prison by the Eastern High Court for endorsing the attack in a video on Snapchat, while two other individuals have also been convicted for similar statements made to the Danish newspaper B.T. and during a demonstration.
Copenhagen City Court is set to review two additional cases next week, one of which involves an imam. The imam, who has pleaded not guilty, stated in a radio program on Radio 24syv that resistance is a necessary evil. The defense in this case looks forward to clarifying fundamental questions about the limits of freedom of expression in relation to the debate over Palestine.
Charlotte Alsing Juul explains that some of the dropped cases are due to a lack of evidence or identifiable offenders. In instances where statements were made in closed forums, they are not considered public endorsements. Expressions that are too vague are also not seen as punishable. For a criminal case to be brought, the statement must explicitly support a specific act of terrorism and must occur publicly.
Comment sections on social media platforms like Facebook constitute a significant part of the reports. Here, the prosecution assesses the context of the statements to determine whether they constitute public approval of terrorism.
The current status indicates that 88 cases are being investigated by various police districts, while 64 cases have already been evaluated by the State Prosecutor.