Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
A Random Image
Hate Groups, Islam:

Dutch court extends prison for 4 Muslim terror plotters

Religion News Blog, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 3, 2008 News Summary
www.religionnewsblog.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 22618 • Posted: Friday October 3, 2008  

  • Google Bookmarks
  • Google Reader
  • Gmail
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Blogger Post
  • Evernote
  • Facebook
  • Share/Bookmark
Click here... More articles on this topic: Hate Groups, Islam

Dutch court extends prison for 4 terror plotters

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: An appeals court on Thursday increased the prison sentences of four Islamic radicals accused of plotting attacks on Dutch politicians, convicting them of the additional charge of membership in a terrorist organization.

The Hague appeals court re-convicted the four Dutch nationals of Moroccan descent for plotting attacks, and said trial evidence showed they were part of a single group, as prosecutors had argued.

Judges cited their adherence to a single violent belief system, their training with firearms, and their coordinated efforts to find the addresses of Dutch politicians on a hit-list, including the prime minister.

The court’s judges added a year to the sentence of ringleader Samir Azzouz, 22, giving him a total of nine years in prison. Azzouz had videotaped a suicide testament.

Both defendants and prosecutors had appealed the original ruling. The defendants asked for acquittal and the prosecutors sought longer sentences, including 15 years for Azzouz.

Azzouz “has made it apparent that he despises Dutch society,” judges said in a written ruling. “He has shown that he has no respect for those who have different views and knows no compassion for the potential victims of the acts he planned.”

Azzouz evaded jail twice in investigations into alleged terrorist activities. The first time, he was caught with bomb-making materials, but he was released without charge on a technicality.

He later was charged with planning an attack, but was acquitted when the judges ruled his preparations were not advanced enough to prove a terrorist intent.

While testifying as a defense witness in a case against several of his friends, Azzouz told judges: “We reject your system. We hate you. I guess that about sums it up.”

- Source: Dutch court extends prison for 4 terror plotters, AP via the International Herald Tribune, Oct. 2, 2008 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

AMSTERDAM, 03/10/08 – The appeal court in The Hague ruled yesterday that the so-called Piranha network is a criminal organisation with a terrorist objective. Main suspect Samir Azzouz was sentenced to nine years in jail.

Azzouz participated in a terrorist organisation in which he had a coordinating role and which plotted terrorist attacks against politicians including Prime Minister Balkenende and MPs Geert Wilders and Jan Marijnissen. Evidence included a video testament in which he said goodbye to family and friends in October 2005, with an eye to his impending ‘martyr’s death.’ Azzouz also recruited Jihad warriors, the appeal court established.

The judges gave an 8-year sentence to Nouredine el Fatmi. Like Azzouz, he was an active and leading member of the network. Mohammed Chentouf got 6 years, Soumaya Sahla, who was unofficially married to El Fatmi, got 4 years and a man described as Mohammed H. got three months in jai.

All suspects were ‘homegrown’ terrorists with Dutch and Moroccan passports.
[...]

In another court case, the judges ruled earlier that the so-called Hofstad group was not beyond a reasonable doubt a terrorist organisation. El Fatmi was also in that network, whose leader Mohammed Bouyeri assassinated Islam-critic Theo van Gogh in November 2004. El Fatmi is serving a 5-year sentence for his Hofstad activities, including carrying a loaded machine gun in a rucksack.

Azzouz was arrested repeatedly for terrorist activities. The first time, he was caught on his way to Chechnya. He was charged with planning an attack in the Netherlands later, but was acquitted once again – he had bought the wrong fertiliser for his bomb recipe, so that his preparations were not advanced enough to prove a terrorist intent.

- Source: Appeal Court: Piranha Network is Terrorist Organisation, NIS News Bulletin, Netherlands, Oct. 3, 2008 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Google Reader
  • Gmail
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Blogger Post
  • Evernote
  • Facebook
  • Share/Bookmark


What You Can Do From Here

Read More Articles On These Topics
more cult news articlemore religion news Categories: Hate Groups, Islam
Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article
Subscribe
Follow Religion News Blog on Twitter


Read Another Article
Find Related Information
cult research search enginecountercult information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults
Find Related Books


Most Popular Today


Share This Article

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:





Counter Cult Search

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.


Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.


Apologetics Search

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.


Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Home
Latest Headlines
RSS news feed [?]
Headlines by Email
News Trackers
Free content for your site
About RNB
Privacy Policy
Contact RNB
Link to RNB
Advertise on RNB
Apologetics Index
Cult FAQ
Apologetics Search Engine
CounterCult Search Engine