The court in Rotterdam has rejected a challenge request from a lawyer in a jihad case. His client, who is on trial for wanting to go to Syria, doubted the independence of judge Jan van der Groen, following an interview with him in NRC Next. In it, Van der Groen said that with jihadists, judges often have no choice but to impose an unconditional sentence.

"As a judge, you also always look at the effectiveness of a sentence. Whether probation with special conditions works for this category of offenders, we don't know. Also, sometimes the probation service sees no starting points for counseling these offenders. In such a case, the judge has to fall back on his classic view of punishment: an unconditional prison sentence. Whereas you'd rather look at other options first," said Van der Groen.

Lawyer Serge Weening said these statements made his client feel that he was not getting a fair trial. He therefore filed a challenge request in order to have Van der Groen replaced by another judge.

The trial was suspended for some time so that three other judges could review the request. They rejected the request.