Denmark's state prosecutor said on Wednesday it had charged a Norwegian citizen with assisting an Iranian intelligence service plan an assassination on Danish soil.
The Norwegian, who has Iranian heritage, was arrested in October 2018 over a suspected plot to kill an Iranian Arab opposition figure in Denmark.
Prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said the man, who was not identified, is suspected of gathering information which, according to the investigation, was to be used to carry out a murder in Denmark.
Nilas said it was “completely unacceptable that foreign intelligence services plan killings on Danish soil, and it is unacceptable that people help foreign intelligence services operate in Denmark.”
The man allegedly photographed and made videos of a person’s home on orders from an Iranian intelligence service, Nilas said. He was charged with illegal intelligence activity and complicity in attempted murder.
The plan was thwarted by Danish police. He was arrested in Sweden and extradited to Denmark.
The 40-year old suspect has pleaded not guilty to all charges, his lawyer told Reuters. The trial is scheduled to begin in a Roskilde court on May 1.
The alleged attempt to eliminate a leading member of the opposition Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) was prevented after a major police operation in Denmark in September 2018 during which borders were temporarily closed.