Expatica: Court case Van Gogh murder
Expatica – Living in, moving to, or working in the Netherlands, plus Dutch news in English
An article on Expatica.com.
Rotterdam Court has ordered the release from jail of an 18-year-old terror suspect but remanded 11 other suspected members of the Hofstad group in custody.
The prosecutor has accused the defendants of forming a terrorist network and planning attacks against government targets and the murder of politicians such as MPs Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders.
Prosecutor Plooy claimed for the first time on Tuesday that Mohammed B. played a leading role in the Hofstad group. Previously, the security service AIVD and justice officials suspected B. was on the fringe of the group.
The suspect ordered released was identified on Wednesday as Jermaine W., the bother of Jason W., who was arrested after a 14-hour stand-off in The Hague last November.
The public prosecutor (OM) said it will not resist the suspect’s release because there is not enough evidence warranting his remand.
Jermaine W. remains a suspect in the investigation, but prosecutor Koos Plooy also indicated that investigations don’t look promising and the court might be asked to acquit him.
The prosecutor said Jermaine was the only suspect who had not been sighted at the Amsterdam home of Mohammed B., the suspected killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
Jason W. had earlier tried to clear his brother’s name on Tuesday, telling the court the extremist documents found on Jermaine’s computer were his.
In total, eight of the 12 suspects have appeared in court for the preliminary hearing in the past two days.
Besides the lawyers of Jason W. and Ismail A. � who were arrested after four police officers were injured in a grenade attack last year in The Hague � the lawyers of every defendant requested the abolition or suspension of their client’s remand.
The lawyers stressed that the prosecutor has no evidence implicating them in criminal activities and they have been unjustly imprisoned for the past six months.
The prosecutor has accused the defendants of forming a terrorist network and planning attacks against government targets and the murder of politicians such as MPs Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders.
Prosecutor Plooy claimed for the first time on Tuesday that Mohammed B. played a leading role in the Hofstad group. Previously, the security service AIVD and justice officials suspected B. was on the fringe of the group.
B. was arrested shortly after Van Gogh had his throat cut on an Amsterdam street last November. The filmmaker had also been shot and stabbed.
Meanwhile, Rotterdam Court ordered on Wednesday three AIVD workers to give testimony. These include AIVD boss Sybrand van Hulst and his deputy Bot.
A preliminary hearing in relation to the alleged Hofstad group will be held on 27 July.
[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2005]
