The pretrial detention of Mohammed G., the 28-year-old jihadist from Maastricht, was extended by the judge for 30 days on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the National Prosecutor's Office announced this. G. was arrested last month in a Maastricht flat for involvement in a violent crime.
However, that crime, according to the prosecutor's office (OM), has nothing to do with terrorism or jihadism.
In limitation
About the nature of G.'s involvement in that crime or the place where it took place, the prosecution does not want to say anything further yet because G. is still under restriction, which means he is not allowed any contact with the outside world except with his lawyer.
Mohammed G. was released last October after being sentenced to three years in prison, including one year of probation, with five years of probation for another attempt to participate in Islamic State's armed jihad in Syria.
Anklet
G. was imposed an exceptionally long probation period with special conditions such as an ankle bracelet because of persistent jihadist ideas, the chance of recurrence and the risk of him committing an attack in the Netherlands. In addition to the ankle bracelet, those conditions include probation supervision, a ban on contact with people on the terrorism list, a location ban for airports and mandatory cooperation in interviews with an Islam expert.
Mohammed G., of Iraqi Kurdish origin, tried unsuccessfully to travel to Syria at least three times. In 2013, he was already found guilty of preparing terror attacks by attempting to participate in the armed struggle in Syria, but was declared completely insane. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital for a year.
Salvation Army
Although his passport was taken away, G. then left almost immediately for Iraq, where an attempt to join Islamic State ran aground. He returned to the Netherlands penniless in 2015 and was taken in by the Salvation Army in Maastricht, the city where he had also previously lived. Then two undercover agents and wiretaps were used.
G. still appeared to want to die a martyr's death in the caliphate and expressed a willingness to acquire that martyrdom in the Netherlands if he failed to travel out to the caliphate. He paid to purchase a fake passport in the fall of 2015. That was when he was arrested.
