Suspected terrorist freed after police bomb plot trial ended

Terror suspect Mohamed B. will be released from custody with immediate effect, the court in Rotterdam decided on Friday. Earlier this week the Public Prosecutor demanded a 4 year prison sentence against him.

The Rotterdam court confirmed this to NRC. The reason for B.'s immediate release will be revealed at the ruling in this case on September 8th. "But in general it is true that courts do this either when there is an acquittal or a sentence that is less than the time this gentleman has already spent in custody: a little over 11 months", a spokesperson for the court said to the news wire.

B.'s lawyer, André Seebregts, has a similar opinion. "It is not certain yet, but it probably means that he will be acquitted", the lawyer said to the Volkskrant. "It has become increasingly clear that we are not dealing with a terrorist, but a dreamer."

Mohamed B. was arrested in October last year after a tip from the General Intelligence and Security Service. The Public Prosecutor believes that he was planning an attack against police officers and soldiers in the Netherlands. In online chats he portrayed himself as an avid supporter of ISIS and was planning to travel to Syria. His lawyer always stated that he was only doing this to impress girls.