Bandidos leaders encourage violence: Public Prosecutor

Outlaw motorcycle gang Bandidos is set up to commit and hide crimes - violence and crimes are not only approved of, but even encouraged by the gang leaders, the Public Prosecutor argued in the Utrecht court on Tuesday. The Public Prosecutor is trying to get Bandidos banned in the Netherlands, NOS report.

The Prosecutor listed a long list of Bandidos related incidents in the Netherlands and abroad. These include shootings, stabbings, arson, and violent clashes with other motorcycle gangs. He referred to an incident on the market in Valkenswaard, where a Bandidos member got into a fight with a group of Hells Angels, and an incident in which a Bandido member was threatened with a knife when he dropped his daughter off at school.

"The violence between Bandidos and other clubs can rapidly escalate, also here in the Netherlands", the Prosecutor said, according to the broadcaster. "We must not wait for this to happen. Those who incite violence, loses the right to association."

The Prosecutor also added that Bandidos members are sworn to silence, and that once a member, it's basically impossible to leave the club. A Bandidos member in Alkmaar was beaten with iron bars in the clubhouse because he wanted to give up his membership. The man even called his ex wife, asking that he could say goodbye to his kids because he was convinced he was going to be murdered. He was too afraid to press charges.

"People are forced to remain a member. That alone is grounds for a ban", the Prosecutor said. That Bandidos claims it puts criminal members out of the club is, according to the Prosecutor, "as credible as a bar tender saying he only allows abstainers".