Get an overview of the case here:
* ASMLA is an abbreviation for Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz. One of the three defendants co-founded the movement in 1999.
* The movement is fighting for the secession of the province of Khusistan in western Iran. The capital of the province is Ahvaz – the Arabs call it Ahwaz with a “w”.
* Khusistan has been part of first Persia and later Iran since 1925, but the area houses many Arabic speakers. Until 1925, the area was an emirate called Arabistan.
* About 90 percent of Iran’s oil resources are in Khusistan. The area was therefore a strategic target for Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran in the 1980s. Hussein wanted to annex the area.
* The three defendants came to Denmark in 2006 and 2007. Since 2008, they have been wanted by the Iranian authorities.
* From an address in Ringsted, they have run the Ahwazna Foundation, which has broadcast satellite TV on behalf of ASMLA.
* On September 22, 2018, a military parade was attacked in Ahvaz. At least 25 people were killed, according to international media. Present at the parade were senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
* After the attack, the three defendants expressed themselves on both Twitter and via the TV station in a way that, in the opinion of the prosecution, is to be considered a cheapening of a terrorist attack. Among other things, they called the attack on the parade “heroic” and “self-defense”, according to the indictment.
* This was the case for them shortly after the attack, ie in the autumn of 2018. In this connection, the police found a USB key with the ASMLA leader, which contained a number of pieces of information, which were later to form the basis for a much larger case.
* In March 2019, the Radio and Television Board issued an order that the Ahwazna Foundation should stop broadcasting television, considering it a propaganda company.
* In September 2019, police closed bridges and cordoned off roads across the country. It feared that Iranian agents were on their way to Denmark to liquidate the ASMLA leader.
* Later, a man in Sweden was arrested for participating in just such a planning. He was sentenced by the city court to seven years in prison. That judgment has been appealed to the Eastern High Court.
* In February 2020, the three ASMLA people were arrested and charged with assisting a Saudi intelligence service in working in Denmark. They were imprisoned, and since then the charges were extended to include support for terrorist groups.
* The three deny guilt. They believe they are waging a legitimate freedom struggle against an oppressive regime.
* The case against them was initiated on April 29. Judgment is expected at the beginning of the new year.
Source: The Nordic Page