Denmark charges man with failed attack on Iran envoy

Danish prosecutors have filed charges against an Iranian man who allegedly tried to attack Iran's ambassador with a knife at the embassy in Copenhagen.

Published: 24 June 2023 15:42 CEST

Denmark charges man with failed attack on Iran envoy

Photo: Diego Fabian Parra Pabon/Pixabay.

Danish prosecutors have filed charges against an Iranian man who allegedly tried to attack Iran’s ambassador with a knife at the embassy in Copenhagen.

Prosecutors announced on Friday charges over an attack at an unspecified “foreign” embassy, but a source close to the case confirmed it was at Iran’s compound.

The man ran towards Ambassador Afsaneh Nadipour holding a knife “with the intention of stabbing her”, Danish police said after the October 7, 2022 incident.

The alleged attacker, 33, was apprehended by an embassy employee on its grounds.

Tehran accused the man of having targeted Nadipour and criticised the Danish police for being too slow to react.

According to prosecutors, the man was immediately placed in detention, for most of the time in a psychiatric ward.

A trial date has not yet been made public.

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The 39-year-old Polish man is suspected of punching Frederiksen on June 7th as she walked in central Copenhagen, leaving her with a minor whiplash injury.

“The court has decided that the suspect will remain in custody until July 4th,” a court official told AFP, following a hearing that lasted less than an hour.

The man, who was arrested immediately after the incident, has denied responsibility and says he has no recollection of what happened.

Frederiksen, 46, underwent a medical examination afterwards and was diagnosed with a “contusion on her right shoulder and a minor whiplash injury”, according to her office.

A medical certificate was presented to the court on Thursday.

Frederiksen and several witnesses have been questioned in the ongoing investigation, police said.

In police questioning, relayed to the court on Thursday, Frederiksen said the man approached her and uttered something incomprehensible, then hit her on the shoulder with a closed fist, Danish news agency Ritzau reported on Thursday.

According to prosecutor Line Steffensen, the man was drunk and had stolen alcohol from a grocery store just prior to his encounter with the prime minister.

Steffensen said the man had been arrested on several occasions for shoplifting since moving to Denmark five years ago.

Frederiksen became Denmark’s youngest ever prime minister when she was elected in 2019, aged 41. She won re-election in 2022.

She said after the attack that she was “shaken” and did not take part in the final day of campaigning for the EU election.