Danish court acquits Ahmed Samsam over Hamas attack Facebook post

A Danish appeals court has upheld the acquittal of Ahmed Samsam, who was accused of endorsing terrorism in a Facebook post about Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, DR reports.

The Western High Court (Vestre Landsret) ruled on Wednesday that Samsam, who collaborated with Danish intelligence in 2013–2014, was not guilty of glorifying terrorism—a decision that confirms an earlier district court verdict from February 2024. His brother, also charged in the case, was likewise acquitted.

On the day of the Hamas attack in October 2023, Samsam instructed his brother by phone to post a message on his Facebook profile. The post included the statement: “Finally, they’ve gotten a taste of their own medicine after countless killings of civilians and journalists over 80 years.” Prosecutors argued this violated Danish law prohibiting public approval of acts of terrorism.

During the trial, Samsam testified that he was unaware of civilian casualties in the Hamas attack when he directed his brother to make the post. Once he learned of the deaths, he contacted his brother to have it removed.

Prosecutors had sought an eight-month prison sentence for Samsam and four to six months for his brother. Both men were cleared by the Horsens District Court in February 2025.

Samsam was serving a Spanish prison sentence in Denmark at the time of the Hamas attack, having been convicted in Spain of integrating into a terrorist organisation while in Syria. He has maintained his innocence, claiming his presence in Syria was at the request of Danish intelligence.

In a separate 2024 ruling, Denmark’s Supreme Court confirmed that Samsam had worked as an informant for the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) and the Defence Intelligence Service (FE) during his 2013–2014 trips to Syria, providing information on Danish foreign fighters in exchange for payment. Samsam hopes this recognition may lead to a retrial in Spain.