Mohammed G., the 28-year-old jihadist from Maastricht, was arrested last week in a flat in Maastricht for involvement in a violent crime. That crime, however, according to the public prosecutor, has nothing to do with terrorism or jihadism.
G. has been under restriction for two weeks, which means he is not allowed any contact with the outside world except with his lawyer. For that reason, the Public Prosecutor's Office does not want to give any further explanation. Regarding reports in De Telegraaf that the police had used a grenade to force entry to G.'s home, the Public Prosecutor's Office does not wish to comment.

October 2017

G. was released last October. That was the result of an appeal conviction to three years in prison, one of which was suspended, with a five-year probation period. He had served his two-year sentence almost entirely on remand. G. was given an exceptionally long probation period with special conditions such as an ankle bracelet imposed because of his persistent jihadist ideas, the chance of recidivism 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 cooperating with interviews with an Islam expert. It was not clear at the time where in the Netherlands G. would live. Now the arrest has made it clear that this was Maastricht, the city where he had been arrested twice before and where he had also indicated that he would want to do "something" if his jihad course to Syria wanted to be thwarted.

Martyrdom

Mohammed G., of Iraqi Kurdish origin, tried unsuccessfully to travel to Syria at least three times. Back in 2013, he was found guilty of preparing terror attacks by attempting to participate in the armed struggle in Syria but declared completely insane. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital for a year. Although his passport was taken away, G. then left almost immediately for Iraq; however, his attempt to join Islamic State foundered. 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 deployed. 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.