The court in Rotterdam sentenced six men from Arnhem and the Rotterdam region to sentences of up to 17 years in prison on Thursday afternoon. The group of jihadists prepared a major attack on a festival in the Netherlands, according to the court.
The group was arrested in September 2018 shortly after four of them were practicing with bomb vests and Kalashnikovs in a vacation home in Weert. The weapons had been deactivated, however, the suppliers were undercover police officers.
Main suspect Hardi N. (36) from Arnhem received 17 years in prison. He was the one who had contact with the undercover agents and who brought the group of jihadists together from his circle of friends. The highest sentence went to Wail el A., (13 years in prison) he also tried to shoot at the police during his arrest. Both men were also previously convicted of attempting to travel out to the combat zone in Syria.
Four other members of the group also received up to 13 years in prison.
The six men, ranging in ages from 22 to 36, grew up in Arnhem, two of them had moved to the Rotterdam area not long before their arrest. In arresting them, on Sept. 27, 2018, the prosecution claimed to have "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.
Gay Pride
During the hearing days of the trial, it appeared that Gay Pride in Amsterdam was being considered as a target. However, the group could not get weapons in time. After that, no choice of place or time for the attack was made.
According to the prosecution, it was "an attack such as the Netherlands has never seen before, inspired by what happened in Paris," prosecutor Ferry van Veghel stated earlier during the trial. ''How would the Netherlands have been affected if this had not been prevented? Our country has never been so close to such a major attack before." The prosecution demanded long prison sentences this summer.
The lawyer of prime suspect Hardi N., Serge Weening, stated during the trial that his client was provoked. Not by the undercover agents of the police, but by a preceding undercover operation of intelligence service AIVD. Those secret agents allegedly directed and encouraged Hardi N. to set up plans for an attack. The court did not go along with that today. It will probably come up again during the inevitable appeal.
