Two Swedish men went on trial in Denmark on Wednesday for allegedly throwing hand grenades at the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen last year, AFP reported.
The defendants, aged 18 and 21, face terrorism charges, as well as charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder. The younger man pleaded guilty to aggravated assault but denied aiming the grenades at the embassy. His lawyer, Jakob Buch-Jepsen, told the court his client admitted to throwing two grenades but not to targeting the mission. The second defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors said the pair transported five hand grenades to the area of Hellerup, near the embassy, on Oct. 2, 2024, throwing two that struck a nearby residential building and exploded. Police later found DNA from the 18-year-old on one of the grenades recovered from a garden. The two were arrested at Copenhagen’s train station as they prepared to travel to Amsterdam.
According to Swedish media, the 18-year-old was recruited by Sweden’s Foxtrot criminal network and is also being prosecuted in Sweden for a shooting at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm the previous day.
The six-day trial is scheduled to conclude Feb. 3. Swedish intelligence has previously alleged that Iran sought to recruit local criminal gangs to attack Israeli targets. The Islamic Republic denies the claim.
Tehran is behind a series of terrorist attacks carried out by criminal gangs targeting Israeli embassies in Europe, including Sweden, over the past months, the Mossad intelligence agency revealed earlier this year.
