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Ard van der Steur (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons)
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Ard van der Steur (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons)
Late report leads to Dutch jihadist's escape: Justice Min.
Suspected Dutch jihadist Martijn N. managed to board a plane in Dusseldorf and fly to Turkey earlier this year because the message for the Dutch Public Prosecutor to issue an arrest warrant arrived late, Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice wrote in a letter to parliament. He is investigating what went wrong, NU. reports.
N. was twice arrested in Turkey and delivered back to the Netherlands, the last time was in May. He arrived back in the Netherlands in June. His passport was confiscated after his first arrest and a case is running against him.
The suspected jihadist used an identity card on his journey from Dusseldorf to Turkey. Van der Steur calls it "unacceptable" that he could do so. According to him, suspected jihadists should be given a different identity card that offers fewer travel possibilities.
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold calls it "completely incomprehensible" that a suspected jihadist can get out of the country due to a late message. "The Minister also did not answer the question on how many Dutch terror suspects currently escape the attention of the authorities", he said. He points to the fact that the previous terror suspect who slipped beneath notice turned out to be one of the suicide bombers in the Brussels bombings.