Eight months in prison for leaving fake bomb at Amsterdam kosher restaurant

Hassan N. was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 4 of which conditionally suspended, for leaving a fake bomb at Kosher restaurant Ha Carmel in Amsterdam during the early hours of January 15th. He also has to pay 3 thousand euros in compensation for immaterial damage to the restaurant's three owners. The 46-year-old man was also convicted of sending an anti-Semitic and threatening letter to an Amsterdam local, Het Parool reports.

The court said it took N.'s history of drug addiction into account, but also explicitly stated that the fake bomb had an enormous impact on the restaurant owners and "also for the entire Jewish community". According to the court, all crimes N. is accused of have an anti-Semitic character. The court assumes the man specifically targeted Ha Carmel because it is a Jewish restaurant with Jewish owners, and called this both shocking and unacceptable.

The fake bomb consisted of a box with electrical wires and a printed circuit board. N's DNA and fingerprints were found on the box. N. claimed that he did not leave the fake bomb at Ha Carmel, but that he had placed the box next to a waste container to be thrown away. The box wasn't in the waste container, because it was full, he said.

Ha Carmel's lawyer told Het Parool that the fake bomb was the 7th anti-Semitic incident at the restaurant in two and a half years. The business is being destroyed, the lawyer said.

Another criminal case is currently underway against a 31-year-old man suspected of trying to set a flag on fire in the restaurant and smashing its windows on May 8. That case is due to be tried in November.