The extra-security court in Rotterdam on Thursday handed down the verdict on six terror suspects arrested Sept. 27, 2018. Four men from this group were handcuffed in Weert where they were training in a vacation home with Kalashnikovs and bomb vests.
Did the Netherlands escape a "mega-attack" two years ago like those that previously struck Paris and Brussels? Or were police infiltrators guilty of incitement? On Thursday, the court in Rotterdam will decide the fate of six men suspected of preparing an attack and membership in a terrorist organization.
According to the prosecutor's office, the men wearing bomb vests and Kalashnikovs wanted to carry out an attack at an event in the Netherlands and detonate a car bomb at another location. The target would possibly be Gay Pride, a nightclub or an army base.
Revealing footage was also taken of the preparation. The recordings were made with hidden cameras and listening devices. This occurred during a meeting between the terrorism suspects and two undercover agents at the Weerterbergen vacation park in Weert. The agents posed as weapons suppliers. The weapons had been disabled in advance by the police.
On Sept. 27, four members of the group were arrested. When they left the vacation park, the Special Interventions Service intervened. Three other suspects were arrested the same day in Arnhem. Of this trio, one person was subsequently released.
During the arrest at the Trancheeweg in Weert, members of the arrest team stormed the white rented van containing the four suspects. During that action, the then 21-year-old Rotterdam resident Waïl El A. pointed a disarmed weapon at the officers. He later said about this in court, "It was not clear to me what I was in. It was a moment of terror for me. I didn't know any better." The prosecution is demanding 20 years in prison against him for attempted murder.
The judiciary is demanding 18 years in prison against main suspect Hardi N. from Arnhem for preparing an attack in the Netherlands. If it is up to the justice department, the other suspects will also spend years in prison. Nadim S. faces 15 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Morad M. and Nabil B. were sentenced to 13 years and Shevan A. to 8 years in prison.
The prosecution believes they were engaged in a serious plan and did not intend to get away alive. "They were all preparing the end of their lives. They would have made an unprecedented number of victims and intended to hit the Dutch way of life hard. Therefore, very heavy prison sentences are inevitable."
During the trial that began Jan. 10, 2019, the role of police infiltrators also came up. Intelligence officers had infiltrated the terror cell. They were given access to the group's preparations. The suspects themselves maintain that they had no plans for an attack and that there was incitement by the infiltrators.
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