Two men convicted of arson attack on Global Aktion in Copenhagen
Tuesday 23rd June 2026 on 15:00 in
Denmark
A Copenhagen jury has found two men guilty of setting fire to the offices of the NGO Global Aktion on Wesselsgade in the Nørrebro district in January last year, Danish broadcaster DR reports.
The court ruled that the men were present on the night of 12 January 2025 and ignited the blaze, also placing a Yugoslav hand grenade on the doorstep of the premises. A 20-year-old defendant transported the grenade from Glostrup to Nørrebro, while a 21-year-old received a jerrycan of motor petrol from an unidentified accomplice.
The verdict, read in Courtroom 60 of Copenhagen City Court on Tuesday, stated that the act was a coordinated effort. The 20-year-old and 21-year-old were convicted under strict arson provisions for endangering lives, as the fire posed an immediate threat to two individuals inside the building. Others could have been at risk had they not evacuated quickly or if the fire had not been extinguished promptly, the presiding judge said.
Political slogans including “Stop support terrorism” and “Sahara belong to Morocco” were found written on the pavement outside the offices. Investigators discovered a note with these phrases on the 21-year-old’s phone.
A 28-year-old man, though not present during the fire, was acquitted of arson but convicted of supplying the hand grenade to the 20-year-old. The court found no evidence he knew of the planned arson.
The grenade originated from a weapons cache of five hand grenades hidden in a green area in Glostrup. A 33-year-old defendant was convicted of possessing the five grenades, as he controlled them. The 28-year-old was acquitted on this charge.
The two older men were additionally convicted of drug possession and furthering the activities of the outlawed Loyal to Familia (LTF) gang. The 33-year-old’s Snapchat username included a black-and-white dot, a known LTF identifier, according to the court.
Sentencing is expected next week. Global Aktion is an NGO focused on global inequality, with recent work addressing the Morocco-Western Sahara conflict.