Prosecutor officially summons 10 Dutch jihadists in Syria to court

The Public Prosecutor issued an official and public summons to 10 Dutch men believed to be fighting for terrorist organization ISIS in Syria and Iraq. These men are summoned to attend a pretrial hearing in the court of Rotterdam on March 23rd, the Prosecutor said in a statement on the police website.

All ten men are suspected of participating in a terrorist organization and preparing for terrorist crimes. The Public Prosecutor does not want to wait for these men to return to the Netherlands before starting the legal proceedings against them and the cases will be heard in their absence should they fail to appear.

As the Prosecutor could not issue the summons in person, these were served at the court registry. The Dutch authorities tried to reach the suspects on various fronts including social media. The pending trials were also announced in the combat zone through "targeted action on Facebook".

The suspects involved are 29-year-old Thierry K. from Zoetermeer, 29-year-old Victor D. from Raalte, 28-year-old Jihad S. from Arnhem, 24-year-old Yago R. from Arnhem, 22-year-old Marouane B. from Arnhem, 31-year-old Khalid B. from Velp, 27-year-old Jeroen van D. from Almere, 24-year-old Khalid B. from Vlaardingen, 26-year-old Adil B. from Rotterdam and 21-year-old Ridvan O. from Utrecht.

"The Public Prosecution Service wants to make it clear that the constitutional state has not taken leave from the Syria or Iraq volunteers. The rule of law applies to them whether they want it or not", the Prosecutor said in the statement. "Besides, risks with possible returnees from the combat zone will be reduced once they have been sentenced. Upon their return, they can then immediately be arrested to serve their imposed penalty."