Seven men accused of being members of the so-called Hofstad terrorist group went on trial again in Amsterdam on Friday, news agency ANP reports.
The men were found not guilty on appeal but in February the high court ordered a retrial, saying the definitions for the ‘existence and structure of a criminal or terrorist organisation’ used by the appeal court were ‘too strict’ .
The Hofstad Group was suspected of preparing the murder of Dutch Islam critic and film director Theo van Gogh in 2004, and of supporting the murderer, Mohammed Bouyeri, Radio Netherlands says.
He was seen as the leader of the group and in 2005 was given a life sentence for carrying out the murder. The Hofstad Group was ideologically motivated by radical Islamism.