Court Rules Preparing for Jihad is a Crime
THE HAGUE, 25/10/13 - A Rotterdam district court has convicted two men of making preparations to participate in the armed conflict in Syria.
Mohammed G. was convicted of preparing for murder. He does not however have to go to jail, as according to the Rotterdam court, he is completely non compos mentis. Mohammed G. prepared for participating in the Jihad in Syria among other things by collecting money, cancelling his rent, packing rucksacks and reading Jihadist texts. The man suffers from psychoses, in which he experiences a spirit ordering him to do things, such as go to Syria. He will therefore not receive a sentence, but he does have to go to a psychiatric hospital. Another man, Omar H., was sentenced to 12 months in jail, including four months suspended, as the court found that he wanted to deliberately light a fire or cause an explosion. Ignition fuses, aluminium powder and instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives were among items found in his home. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) is pleased with the verdict, said spokesman Bart den Hartigh: ''It was a question for us of whether travelling to Syria, and making preparations for this, in order to commit crimes there, is a punishable offence. The district court has now said that this is so.” |
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