Case on Dutchman's terrorism arrest in Spain postponed; Not urgent, court allegedly said

The summary proceedings between the Dutch State and a 35-year-old Dutch-Moroccan man from Tilburg who was arrested in Spain on terrorism suspicions for unclear reasons will not happen on Wednesday. Muslim Rights Watch (MRW), who filed the case on the Dutchman’s behalf, challenged the judge for allegedly saying that the case was “not urgent,” AD reports.

About 150 people waited outside the courtroom for over an hour on Wednesday morning, unsure about whether they could go inside to witness the summary proceedings. MRW announced that they had lost confidence in the judge a short time later.

According to the group, it had indicated that many people would attend the case to support the Tilburg man, Kenan, and had asked for a live stream connection if not everyone could fit into the courtroom. The court failed to arrange that. When it then called the case “not urgent,” the MRW had enough. “This says everything about our position in the Netherlands,” said the non-profit organization that offers legal defense for the Muslim community.

Spain had Kenan in custody for nearly two months on terrorism accusations. The Spanish authorities arrested him when he visited there on his way to Morocco on holiday. They accused him of belonging to a jihadist group in Arnhem, where he grew up. The mayors of Tilburg and Arnhem previously asked the authorities in Spain to release the man, stating that he was not suspected of any form of terrorism or crime in the Netherlands.

It is not clear why the man was arrested in Spain. His lawyer believed that he unjustly ended up on a list of potential terrorism suspects that the Dutch authorities shared with Interpol years ago. But, according to the lawyer, the State now claims that it never put the man on a terrorism watch list.

Spain released Kenan on Tuesday. The authorities put him on a plane back to the Netherlands, and he has been reunited with his family, MRW told AD. The lawsuit filed was initially intended to force the government to help the man. But now that he has been released, the case will demand information on how this could have happened.

Kenan has been through a tough time, MRW said. “Being incarcerated for something you didn’t do is horrible. He’s completely devastated. He is physically and mentally exhausted. He didn’t eat, had sleepless nights. You can see he’s on his very last legs here. The hunger strike really had an impact.”

The case against the State is about more than Kenan alone, the MRW said. “This concerns all of us. If this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. We must make it clear to the State that this is a gross violation of human rights. It cannot be that people like Kenan no longer dare to travel freely due to a mistake made by the government. And it is up to the government to correct that mistake. Which authorities have his data? Those wrong accusations? What list is he on? This must end soon.”