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December 1, 2006

Netherlands: Islamist Samir Azzouz Is Jailed At Last - For Eight Years

News from Expatica, ITV, BBC, Reuters, Deutsche Presse Agentur and Associated Press:

Samir Azzouz (pictured) is a 20 year old Dutch citizen of Moroccan origin. He has been identified as a potential terrorist for several years, with links to the notorious Hofstad Group. This group comprised nine members who were convicted under new Dutch terrorism laws on March 10 this year. The Hofstad Group also includes Mohamed Bouyeri, who stabbed, shot and tried to behead the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on an Amsterdam street on November 2, 2004. Van Gogh was murdered for allegedly "insulting" Islam in a documentary.

Samir Azzouz had first come to the attention of the Dutch intelligence agency, AIVD, in January 2003 when , with another individual, he had attempted to enter Chechnya. Russian police stopped him from crossing at the border, and sent him home. From that time onwards, Azzouz had been under surveillance.

In October 2003, Azzouz and four others were detained on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. He was set free. He was again arrested in July 2004, and machine-gun cartridges, a bullet-proof vest, two fake bombs, a silencer and maps were recovered. At his trial this year in Rotterdam in 2005, he was convicted of possessing illegal arms, though a further charge, that of plotting to attack public buildings, fell through. Having spent time in jail, his three month sentence was considered "used up". He was acquitted on April 6, 2005.

Azzouz was re-arrested on October 14 2005, after AIVD discovered a "farewell video" which Azzouz had made. Six other associates were also arrested at this time, from locations in Almere, Amsterdam and the Hague.

The farewell video, which was broadcast on NOVA TV on September 14 this year shows (above) Azzouz dressed in jihadist combat gear. Behind him is a gun, which bears a strong similarity to a Scorpion 61 which was recovered from a basement in the Hague on September 4 this year.

The Czech-made CZ Scorpion 61 submachine pistol and a Smith & Wesson handgun, along with two ammunition clips and 300 conical tipped bullets for the submachine pistol had been found in the basement of an apartment complex in the Hague. A woman who lived in the complex, who had been arrested on October 14 last year, Soumaya Salah, was re-arrested. The weaponry was discovered after flooding of the basement.

Soumaya Salah was the wife of Nourridine El Fatmi, aka Faoud, who was one of the Hofstad Group members who had been convicted in March this year. Her husband had received a five year jail sentence for possessing a submachine gun in Amsterdam. He had been with the gun in June of last year.

The "farewell video" made by Azzouz referred to an "act" which he has carried out. This statement was the trigger for AIVD to send the alarm, which led to the arrests of Azzouz and six others under "Operation Piranha". Azzouz says on the video: "You crusaders support Bush when he said: Let the crusades begin. So we speak the language of the sword until you leave Muslims in peace."

Azzouz dedicated the "farewell video" to "the Muslims in Europe, my parents, my brothers in the jails of the despots and the government and people of the Netherlands."

The trial of Azzouz and the other six, including a woman, had commenced on October 16. Azzouz's defense lawyer, Victor Koppe, argued that Azzouz was innocent and was being tried because the authorities were prejudiced against him. During the trial, Azzouz expressed his own prejudice - saying he hated the Netherlands, and promising to leave the country when he could.

Today, Azzouz was found guilty of plotting a terrorist attack against the headquarters of AIVD in the Hague. Though prosecutors had asked for a 15-year jail sentence, he was given instead an 8 year jail term.

The court had heard that a bomb-making manual had been recovered from Azzouz's home, and also it heard a taped conversation that Azzouoz had made in a phone call to a convicted terrorist. In this conversation, it was hinted that a terrorist attack was imminent.

Presiding judge E. Koning said that the "farewell video" suggested Azzouz had been close to achieving his goal, "such as an explosion that would mean the death of many people... or a political murder." Judge Koning said that two machine guns and a revolver found in Azzouz's possession were "professional arms that could have caused many casualties." The judge said that Azzouz had wanted to strike at the heart of Dutch democracy.

Though the gun depicted in the "farewell video" bore a close similarity to the one found in the basement of Soumaya Salah's apartment complex, at the start of the trial forensic experts ruled that there was no evidence to prove the Scorpion 61 had been in contact with Azzouz.

Soumaya Salah and her husband Nourridine El Fatmi, aka Faoud, were also on trial with Samir Azzouz. The married couple, with another individual named Mohammed Chentouf, also received jail terms for involvement in terrorist plots. Soumaya Salah got a three year sentence, while the two men received four-year jail terms.

Two other individuals who were on trial were acquitted on terror charges, but one of these was given a three month sentence for providing false information in identity documents.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 1, 2006 2:05 PM

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