It is one of the largest and most spectacular Dutch terror trials of this century: the case against the six men who, according to the prosecution, wanted to carry out a major attack in the Netherlands in 2018 with bomb vests and Kalashnikovs. It led directly to a harsh confrontation between the prosecution and the lawyer of prime suspect Hardi N. over a lost phone during the first substantive hearing Wednesday morning.
The public prosecutor stated when the six men were arrested, on Sept. 27, 2018, ''they prevented a major attack in the Netherlands.'' ''The plan was presumably to use bomb vests and Kalashnikov (AK47s) to carry out an attack at an event and detonate a car bomb at another location,'' a spokesman said at the time. The arrests came at a time when all of the Netherlands had for some time feared such a major jihadist attack, as there had been in previous years in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Barcelona and Manchester. "And we still think now, at the end of the investigation, that we have prevented an attack," prosecutor Ferry van Veghel said Wednesday morning.
However, according to Arnhem prime suspect Hardi N., he was provoked by intelligence agency AIVD. It could be seen in messages he exchanged on his phone with Abu Hajar, a jihadist Hardi had online contact with, but thus possibly in reality an AIVD agent. In earlier pro forma hearings, the Justice Department stated that it was still investigating that device. But the police lost that phone, says his lawyer Weening. ,,This is a huge terror case. And an important piece of evidence disappears? This is like a movie. It looks like we are being thwarted, including by the court.''
That's nonsense, says prosecutor Ferrry van Veghel. ,,In a story in the AD suggested that people call you a conspiracy nut when you start talking about that missing phone. I won't call you that, but it's not far from the truth." The prosecution confirms that the phone, an iPhone 5, was lost in an internal move. "But that doesn't matter for the case, the entire contents had already been removed from it and are on file."
Several lawyers in the case petitioned the court for the head of intelligence agency AIVD to be heard. They also want the people hiding behind Abu Hajar and Abu Mousab, AIVD agents according to the defense, to be heard. According to the prosecution, this is not necessary. "In this file there is no trace of incitement."
Arrested at vacation park
Seven men were initially arrested in the case: four near a vacation park in Weert, the three others in Arnhem. The group members, aged between 19 and 34, around prime suspect Hardi N. got to know each other in Arnhem and its surroundings. Three of them had recently moved to the Rotterdam area. Three of those arrested were already known jihadists at the time: they had been convicted several years earlier for trying to travel to Syria. One of the seven men was released after a few weeks; the other six have now been detained for almost two years.
It is soon revealed that the group has been ambushed by an ingeniously set up police undercover operation. Two police infiltrators make contact with Hardi N. They do so in April 2018 after the police receive a tip from intelligence agency AIVD that Hardi is looking for weapons for an attack. The undercover agents pose as middlemen and arms suppliers. Eventually, four men, including Hardi, and the two agents meet in a bungalow at a vacation park in Weert. There, the four are handed kalashnikovs and bomb vests, which they immediately train with. What they do not know is that the cottage is full of cameras and listening devices and that the weapons have been disabled. When the group leaves the resort, they are arrested.
What has remained unclear during the preceding sessions is what role secret service AIVD played in the years before it passed on to the police that Hardi N. was looking for weapons. The jihadist was probably being watched by the service since his release. He also had online contact with one Abu Hajar, presumably an undercover agent of the AIVD. Hardi N. accuses that secret agent of incitement. "He planted the seed in my heart."
The hearing on the first day of the trial (11 were scheduled) was supposed to last all day. But was suspended around 11:30 due to technical problems, the microphone system broke down. Since it could not be fixed quickly, the case will not resume until Friday morning.https://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20200610_00163587/live-opgerolde-terreurcel-voor-de-rechter-werden-ze-uitgelokt-of-niet
