25-year-old Rotterdam resident Mohammed G. had only one wish: to travel to Syria to fight as a rebel. And it didn't stop at a wish. G. collected money for his trip through chat rooms, bought tickets, cancelled his room and sold his complete household effects. Yet yesterday in the Rotterdam District Court the Public Prosecutor announced that he does not want to prosecute G.. However, it does demand that G. receives treatment in a psychiatric clinic.
The Iraqi was suspected of preparing a jihad trip. He heard the claim motionless yesterday. Throughout the entire hearing, he invoked his right to remain silent, to the judge's fatigue. The only time G. opened his mouth was when the judge asked him if he would not like to return to Iraq. "Very much so, to marry my wife," the boy muttered.
G. came to the Netherlands from Iraq when he was 10 years old with his parents and eight siblings. The family later decided to move back to the Islamic country, but G. and one of his sisters stayed behind here. He grew up in Rotterdam and spent his life working in supermarkets.
Psychotic
The psychologist and psychiatrist who examined G. agree: things went wrong for G at an early age. He developed a psychotic disorder, which still plagues him. According to the experts, he is completely insane.
The prosecution yesterday questioned those experts' conclusions. "Booking a ticket via Brussels to Turkey, plotting routes and raising money for a jihad trip is not something you do 'by accident'. G. had very concrete plans," the prosecutor said. For example, a shooting range was found in G.'s attic, where he "trained himself as a shooter," according to the prosecutor.
Although G.'s lawyer, Serge Weening, did not deny that his client intended to travel to Syria, he said there was insufficient evidence that he actually wanted to fight for jihad there.
Verdict Aug. 14.
