Man held for stabbing three in Hague is suffering psychosis: experts

Malek F. was suffering from psychosis when he stabbed three random victims in The Hague last year, and is therefore completely unaccountable, behavioral experts concluded after examining the man. He should be treated in a psychiatric institution, in a department for patients with psychotic disorders. The chance of recurrence is high, the experts said, was revealed in a proforma hearing against the man on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

The 32-year-old man stabbed three random people on Johanna Westerdijkplein in The Hague on May 5th last year. The police took him down by shooting him.

One of the biggest questions in this case is whether F. should be tried as a terrorist or as a disturbed man. He himself denies having a terrorist motive. According to his family, he was struggling with mental health problems.

The Public Prosecutor still regards the stabbings as an act of terrorism, despite the experts' conclusions on F.'s mental state. "He planned to kill because he thought that non-Muslims should be killed", the Prosecutor said, according to NU.nl.

F.'s lawyer Job Knoester also denies that F. had terrorist motives, but will only elaborate on this during the trial. F. has since written a letter of apology in which he expresses regret for his actions. According to the lawyer, F. has "terrible regret" and thinks a lot about the events.

The psychiatrist and psychologist who examined F. will be heard as expert witnesses during the trial, which is scheduled for June 21st and 24th. F. will remain in custody until his trial.