Nine suspects identified for attacks on Polish supermarkets

The judiciary in Noord-Holland has a total of nine suspects in the picture for the attacks on Polish supermarkets and attempts thereto. The nine will be prosecuted in two different investigations, the Public Prosecution Service said on Monday.

On Monday, this case appeared in court for the fourth time, this time in Alkmaar. It concerned 20-year-old Amir S. from Amstelveen. His name is on the Top 600 list in Amsterdam, a changing list of names of young frequent offenders. On June 28, he is suspected to have placed a collection of jerry cans with flammable material and a Claymore mine against the facade of a Polish supermarket in the Beverhof shopping center in Beverwijk.

There was no explosion and the man from Amstelveen was quickly arrested. On Monday, neither he nor his counsel appeared in court. During the brief discussion of the case, it turned out that two more suspects had been arrested around the failed attack. One of them was already in custody, the other was taken into custody last week. According to the court, the investigation in this case is almost complete.

These three will be tried separately from six other suspects, who are linked to a series of five explosions at four Polish supermarkets. Those attacks took place in December last year and January this year, including twice at the same supermarket in Beverwijk. Four suspects in this investigation are in custody. The fifth fled abroad when his pre-trial detention was lifted and the sixth was released on conditional release. 

Although the suspects in both investigations targeted the same supermarket, the investigations were kept separate from each other because they involve different suspects, according to the Public Prosecution Service. 

The background to the attacks is still unclear. One of the owners of the supermarket in Beverwijk said that he was completely in the dark at an earlier hearing. The attacks caused considerable damage and caused a lot of unrest among local residents. The supermarket in Beverwijk was closed indefinitely after the failed attack in June.

New preparatory hearings will be held in early November. The case against Amir S. will continue on December 20.