Suspected Dutch jihadist Victor D. is still in Syria, he confirmed in a voice message to newspaper AD sent via Facebook messenger.
"The internet is not very fast here. I am indeed still in Syria. Everything is fine. But I think I... eh... I want some rest right now. And especially for my parents, It does not really matter to me. Especially for my parents that they do not go through everything again", he said in Dutch in the recorded message sent to the newspaper.
Dutch jihadist Victor D. is on his way back to the Netherlands, The Hague city councilor Arnoud van Doorn said to newspaper AD. The Dutch man plans to report to the Turkish army in the border region of Idlib in Syria, armed with a letter in which he distances himself from terrorist organization ISIS and asks the Turkish forces to help him return to the Netherlands.
Suspected jihadist Victor D. from Heeten, Overijssel, wants to return to the Netherlands to be present at his trial, he said in a letter to the court. "In this writing I'm not trying to prove my innocence. I want to tell you what moves me, what touches me and what makes me convinced that I am working for a noble, honest affair", he wrote, according to newspaper AD.
Two weeks ago the Dutch Public Prosecutor issued a summons for 10 suspected Dutch jihadists to appear in court today. As the suspects are believed to be in Syria or Iraq, the summons could not be personally delivered. So the Prosecutor found other ways to try and reach the suspects, including social media. Two of the suspects actually responded to the Prosecutor's Facebook post, according to AD journalist Cyril Rosman tweeting from within the courtroom.
The Public Prosecutor issued an official and public summons to 10 Dutch men believed to be fighting for terrorist organization ISIS in Syria and Iraq. These men are summoned to attend a pretrial hearing in the court of Rotterdam on March 23rd, the Prosecutor said in a statement on the police website.
