Pro-Palestinian activist acquitted of funding Hamas in Dutch terrorism trial

The District Court of Rotterdam has cleared Palestinian activist Amin A. of charges related to financing Hamas. He was, however, given a conditionally suspended six-month jail sentence for breaching sanctions legislation and continuing the operations of the prohibited organization Al Aqsa Foundation.

The Al Aqsa Foundation was added to the EU sanctions list in 2003 over allegations that it collected money for groups associated with Hamas. Amin A. remained actively involved until 2011 with another organization that continued Al Aqsa’s work.

Prosecutors recommended a four-year prison sentence in April, accusing Amin A. of providing more than 8 million euros to Hamas. The Rotterdam court rejected that argument, stating in part that it could not dismiss the possibility that the conclusions of a key prosecution expert had been “politically or otherwise influenced.” The judges said this did not automatically invalidate the expert reports as evidence, but did mean they should be treated with caution.

The court said the available evidence did not prove that the charitable organizations receiving funds collected by Amin A. were under Hamas control. None of those groups appeared on Dutch or European sanctions lists.

While the judges acknowledged they could not exclude the possibility that some of the money may have reached relatives of fallen Hamas members, they added that the same could be said of other funds entering Gaza.

The court found that the defendant’s primary objective was to provide humanitarian aid, “and not in any way to financially support Hamas or organizations linked to Hamas.”