Committing an attack in the Netherlands? No, say the suspects in the big terrorism trial of six Arnhemmers, we were only looking for weapons or wanted to travel out to Syria. Justice argues that they were indeed planning a major attack. Among other things, they had the Gay Pride in Amsterdam in their sights.
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,'' the justice department said.
Weert
Presumably the plan involved an attack during Amsterdam's Gay Pride, according to an e-mail read out by the court. ,, You decide what is easy for you guys to bring candy (by candy are meant weapons, ed.). First we wanted to join miltary parade, but then a gay parade in august." Several people were to carry out these attacks with a bomb vest or a kalashnikov. There were also plans to first blow up a bomb car and then "start shooting like crazy at a festival. When one of the terrorists would be hit, he could then blow himself up with a bomb vest. The e-mail was sent by prime suspect Hardi N. (37, Arnhem) to a confidant. That person was probably and AIVD infiltrator. The Gay Pride passed without Hardi N. being able to get weapons.
Undercover operation
The group was rounded up through a police undercover operation. One police infiltrator made contact with main suspect Hardi N. (36 years old, a previously convicted jihadist), a second police infiltrator supplied (deactivated) bomb vests and kalasnikovs. After four of the six men practiced with those weapons in a cottage at a bungalow park in Weert, the entire group was arrested.
One of the co-defendants, Waïl el A., claims he was only present at the park because he wanted to get in touch with someone who could help him travel out. ''I wanted to go live in an Islamic state, where I can practice my faith,'' Waïl said. Nevertheless, audio clips in the hands of the Justice Department show how Waïl speaks in detail about planning the attack and the consequences of the car bomb to explode: ''You destroy them all.'' According to prosecutors, he also fitted a bomb belt in the cottage.
Another co-accused, Morat M, claims to have attended the meeting because he says he "lusts after weapons" and needs them to protect his wife, who is regularly threatened on the street because of the face veil she wears. ''What I did wrong: I wanted weapons. I realize that some statements come across as brokenly radical. But if the infiltrator had not pretended to be a radical Muslim, all those statements would not have been there. Then we would have been talking Scarface-speak about a robbery or something."
Morat, a former boxer whose half-brother traveled out to Syria, also claimed to have "never, ever, ever wanted to commit an attack in the Netherlands. But, stated officer Ferry van Veghel: ''You also talked in the cottage about adjustments to the bomb vest. And about pulling the string when the police come, 'because then you take it with you.' Isn't that a somewhat cumbersome way to get a weapon?"
Police lost phone
Main suspect Hardi N. claimed earlier that he was provoked into preparing that attack. Not by police infiltrators, but by secret agents of the AIVD. These would be hidden behind some online aliases with which Hardi had been in contact for years. It was also the AIVD that put the police on the Arnhem man's trail in the spring of 2018. According to the suspect, he could prove that incitement on the basis of messages allegedly on a phone. However, that phone has been lost.
The lawyers for Hardi and his co-defendants therefore asked the court again Wednesday, on the first day of the trial, to allow AIVD boss Erik Akerboom and possible other service personnel involved in the operation to testify. According to the Justice Department, this is not necessary "because there is no indication of incitement. The AIVD itself does not comment.
The court ruled Friday morning that, for now, it will not call AIVD employees to testify. "We can't form an opinion now whether that is necessary, we will do that after the hearing of this case here in court," the judge said.
Hardi N. then stated in court Friday morning that he would not answer any questions until the persons behind Abu Hajar and Abu Mousab (the suspected AIVD infiltrators) had been heard. Nabil B., also present in the cottage, would not say anything either.
It leads to disagreement in the group of suspects. Morat and Waïl want Hardi to declare though. "To make it clear what role everyone had," Waïl states. Morat: "Hardi apparently had contact with people behind my back and said things about me in it." Morat, Hardi and Nabil have known each other since they were young, also lived near each other in Arnhem.
The case resumes Wednesday morning, with the prosecution's criminal charges to follow later next week.
https://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20200612_00163911/terrorismeproces-dag-2-moet-de-aivd-komen-getuigen
