The 24-year-old Mohammed G., who the prosecution said had wanted to travel to Syria to fight there, is psychologically seriously ill.
According to behavioral experts, G. suffers chronically from voices in his head and should be nursed in a psychiatric clinic. He is completely insane, the experts say.
So says his lawyer Serge Weening. G. must stand trial Wednesday before the court in Rotterdam. He is suspected of preparing a terrorist crime.
The National Criminal Investigation Department arrested G. and two others in November after the intelligence agency AIVD sent an official notice.
Two of the three suspects, according to prosecutors, had already booked tickets and allegedly wanted to fly from Brussels to Turkey.
Crossbow
During house searches in Rotterdam that accompanied the arrests, investigators found knives, a sword, a crossbow, goodbye letters, packed backpacks and jihadist writings, the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) announced at the time. The trio allegedly had previously negotiated tickets for a flight to Turkey, with a connecting flight to eastern Turkey. That trip was reportedly canceled.
Mohammed G. is on trial on his own. He was considered the prime suspect from the start. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the prosecution of the other two has not yet been definitively decided.
G. allegedly announced his departure for Syria on several chat sites. He married a Muslim woman in November, whom he knew exclusively through the Internet. Justice believes he wanted to fight with her for jihad. G. allegedly told her that he hoped they would die together and go to paradise together. In one photo, G. posed for his bride with an AK-47. According to Weening, the marriage has held up so far.
Jihad travelers
In early July, the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) announced that the number of jihadists traveling to Syria appears to have stagnated. Nevertheless, the greatest terror threat still comes from jihadists returning from Syria. The number of jihadists departing from the Netherlands is estimated at 50 to 100.
Jihadists stopped here, such as Mohammed G. and his supposed accomplices, are also potentially dangerous, according to the NCTV. They can become involved in domestic plots, as recent events abroad have shown. In London, a soldier was slaughtered in the street and in Paris, a soldier was stabbed.
