Man who threatened mayor Aboutaleb in court on Thursday

Jan van L., the man who threatened Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb’s life last September, is a psychiatric patient with a history of similar crimes. Van L. (58) will appear in court on Thursday.

The letter he wrote to Aboutaleb is being characterized as “macabre”. He wrote that “everything would be colored red” and that “no one would be spared.” He also hinted that he knew which school in Maasstad the mayor’s wife attends and particularly mentioned how beautiful his adult daughter is.

Authorities have confirmed that it was Van L. who wrote the letters, but they chose to keep the incident quiet. The man has a history of making similar threats and stalking people. He previous fixated on his psychiatrist at GGZ and also threatened the principal of a primary school in Rotterdam for unknown reasons.

But Van L. was not the first person to threaten Aboutaleb. He said in 2014 that being threatened is not something he enjoys, but that he also does not lose sleep over. A spokesperson for his office referred questions about Van L.’s case to the Prosecutor’s Office.

A spokesperson there said the case is being handled by a Full Bench Division of the court, as the police magistrate cannot sentence someone to forced psychiatric treatment.