A court in Den Haag ordered the Netherlands to quickly bring 56 children of Dutch parents back to the country from Syrian detention and displacement camps. The case was filed on behalf of 23 mothers living in the camps.
In its verdict, the court noted that "the children have not chosen to go to Syria or to stay in Syria. They are sitting there now because their parents have chosen to travel to the Caliphate and join IS."
Authorities in the Netherlands arrested a Dutch man at Schiphol Airport after Swedish officials accused the man of producing terrorist propaganda, the Dutch prosecution service OM said on Friday. He was living in Sweden for the past three years and was deported on Wednesday as an undesirable alien, the OM stated.
The 28-year-old was “was arrested after arrival at Schiphol on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.”
He became the focus of an investigation because of his online behavior, which uncovered ties to ISIS, the OM said.
An airstrike by a Dutch F-16 on a car bomb factory in Iraq in 2015 left at least 70 civilians dead, NOS and NRC report based on their own research. This is the first study showing how many civilians were killed in Dutch bombings in the fight against terrorist organization Islamic State.
The bombing happened during the early hours of 3 June 2015. It completely destroyed a neighborhood in the Iraqi city of Hawija. It is considered one of the bloodiest attacks by the international coalition against ISIS, aimed at a military target.
Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs called his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavusoglu on Monday to make clear that the Dutch government condemns Turkey's invasion of northeastern Syria, he said in a letter to parliament, NOS reports.
Blok asked Minister Çavusoglu to stop Turkish operations in the area and called his attention "to the need to monitor camps" where ISIS jihadists are detained. He also asked Çavusoglu to address the humanitarian need in the area.
Jawed S., a 20-year-old man who stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station last year, was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the court in Amsterdam on Monday. He was convicted to two counts of attempted murder with terrorist intent, and three counts of threatening a police officer, NOS reports.
A vast majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, support sanctions against Turkey following a Turkish invasion in northeastern Syria. The Dutch government is looking into a "wide range of measures" against Turkey, Minister Sigrid Kaag of Foreign Trade, standing in for Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok who is abroad, said in a parliamentary debate on the matter on Thursday, NOS reports.
A Dutch woman decided to flee Turkey instead of awaiting her trial on a propaganda charge after she spent months in a Turkish cell with her baby. In a statement through her Dutch lawyer, the woman said that after her experiences in the country over the past months, she no longer has faith that she will get a free trial, NOS reports.
The Netherlands and Iraq are looking into whether jihadists who fought for terrorist organizations like ISIS can be tried in the Middle Eastern country. Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is advocating for a separate international tribunal to try foreign rebel fighters in the Syrian civil war, NRC reports.
The investigation into a mass shooting on a tram in Utrecht and suspect Gokmen T. is almost complete. The police and judiciary have almost a complete picture of what happened before, during and after the attack in March this year, the Public Prosecutor said during a proforma hearing in this case on Monday, AD reports.
T. was not present at the hearing. He is also refusing legal representation, was revealed in the hearing.
Rene Verschuur, who lost his 19-year-old daughter Roos in a mass shooting on a tram on 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht in March, is furious that suspect Gokmen T. is refusing to attend the next pro-forma hearing in the case against him, scheduled for Monday. In an open letter published by newspaper AD, Verschuur repeatedly called T. a coward for refusing to appear in court and account for his cowardly deeds.
Dutch journalists and aid workers will soon need permission from the Ministry of Justice and Security to work in areas controlled by terrorists. A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, on Tuesday approved a legislative amendment by Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus to this effect, NOS reports.
Prosecutors in the Netherlands called on judges in an Amsterdam courtroom to convict Jawed S. in the stabbings of two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station. The prosecution service argued that the act was a premeditated attempt to murder, with terrorist purposes, justifying a maximum allowable prison sentence of 25 years.
Jawed S., the 20-year-old Afghan man who stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station last year, came to the Netherlands to "kill unfair and cruel people", he said during the first day of his trial at the high security court in Amsterdam on Monday. "That was the intention with which I came to the Netherlands to protect my prophet. You gave the pig the space to express himself like that", S.
The trial against Jawed S., the man suspected of stabbing two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station on August 31st last year, starts in the high security court in Amsterdam on Monday. The two victims will be present at the trial. The three police officers who stopped S.'s attack and arrested him will also speak in the trial, with their identities hidden for security reasons, RTL Nieuws and Nieuwsuur report.
The chemicals and fertilizer found around the arrests of six suspected terrorists in Arnhem and Weert in September, were enough to make half a kilogram of explosives, the Public Prosecutor said in a proforma hearing against the six suspects on Monday. With that they could have caused a big explosion, according to the Prosecutor, AD reports.
A Rotterdam woman detained in Turkey on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, was released from custody on Tuesday by the court in Istanbul. However, she has to stay in Turkey at least until her next hearing on October 3rd, NOS reports.
The 31-year-old woman was arrested at the airport in Istanbul with her 5-month-old daughter in April. After a short trip in Turkey, she was on her way to return to the Netherlands. She and her baby have been in custody since.
The police arrested a 27-year-old man in Maastricht on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. He is suspected of inciting a terrorist crime in the Netherlands and cooperating in training people to become a terrorist, the Public Prosecutor said on Thursday.
The police launched an investigation into the man last month, after information from intelligence service AIVD. The suspect used social media to spread jihadist and violent propaganda, including calls to commit violence, the Prosecutor said.
Children of Dutch jihadists will be placed in a special shelter when they return to the Netherlands. There they will be observed and counseled 24 hours per day to determine whether they pose a danger to society, newspaper AD reported on Friday.
According to the newspaper, older children will be placed in this shelter, where they will be kept isolated - they will not stay with other children. Kids under the age of 9 will also be examined and their mental state assessed upon their return to the Netherlands, NU.nl writes.
Intelligence and security service AIVD underestimated the social impact its official report earlier this year on Amsterdam Islamic high school Cornelius Haga Lyceum would have, AIVD director Dick Schoof said to the Volkskrant. The service warned Amsterdam that the school wanted to devote half of its curriculum to Salafist doctrine, causing an uproar.
Gokmen T. again confessed to being responsible for a mass shooting on a tram in Utrecht and killing four people during the first pro-forma hearing in the case against him on Monday. He also denounced the Dutch legal system. "I don't recognize your laws, I don't recognize your judges", he said in the court in Utrecht on Monday morning, according to AD reporter Yelle Tieleman, tweeting live from the courtroom.
Gokmen T., the man suspected of killing four people and hurting multiple others in a mass shooting in Utrecht in March, must attend the next pro-forma hearing in the case against him, the court in Midden-Nederland ordered.
T. previously stated in writing that he did not want to be present, but the court "considers it important to be able to speak to the suspect during this hearing about the progress of his criminal case", the court said, NU.nl reports.
The next hearing in this case is scheduled for Monday, July 1st.
There is a very real concern in the Netherlands regarding potential terror attacks, particularly from ISIS recruits and jihadists, right-wing extremists, and radical activists, according to Dutch counter-terror office NCTV. Because of this, the terror threat level in the country remains high, with holding at 4 out of a maximum of 5 in the terrorism threat assessment published by the NCTV on Monday.
The government is investing 3.5 million euros into counter-terrorism measures at six train stations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, among others, the Telegraaf reported on Tuesday. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management would not say exactly which train stations are involved, according to the newspaper.
Ewold Horn's death in the Philippines can be blamed on the Dutch government, according to Warren Rodwell from Australia, a former hostage of terrorist movement Abu Sayyaf. The fact that the 54-year-old Dutch man was still a hostage of Abu Sayyaf after seven years shows that the Dutch government did not put enough effort into getting him released, Rodwell said to Dagblad van het Noorden.
