As-Soennah mosque in Assen suffers second vandalism incident; Mayor to visit

A window of the As-Soennah Mosque under construction in Assen has been smashed for the second time in a short period, chairman Mohamed El Mourabit confirmed to RTV Drenthe. He added that the suspect is currently unknown. “Let us hope that it does not get worse than smashing a window.”

Neighbors of the Moroccan mosque stated that they saw a man get out of his car and throw a rock through a front window on July 25, the chairman said. The second time, during the night from Sunday to Monday, "a very large window at the back was smashed with a paving stone."

The mosque reported the first incident to the police. However, according to El Mourabit, the police investigation was halted due to a lack of leads. As a result, the chairman "did not get the impression that they took it seriously." He said, "This is not just mischief; this is something significant and community building." Only after he pointed out that "apparently it’s not considered as serious at a mosque as it is at a synagogue" did the police come by, according to him.

The police do not recognize that version of events. They say they visited the mosque and conducted an investigation after the first report. Ultimately, there were too few concrete leads "to determine who was responsible," according to a spokesperson.

After the second report, a formal complaint was also filed, and the ongoing investigation takes into account both the circumstances and background of the first vandalism as well as the mosque’s social context.

After the second broken window, the mosque board took “action regarding the building’s security,” said El Mourabit. He has also been in contact with Mayor Marco Out, who “takes the matter seriously and says he will visit on Tuesday or Wednesday.”