Acquittal of Schiphol ‘terrorist’ upheld
Dutch appeals court says it is convinced of terrorist intent of teenager accused of planning to bomb government buildings, Schipol Airport, shoot down El Al plane. Ruling: What he had done to prepare an attack ... was in such an early stage and so crude and primitive that it posed no real threat within the foreseeable future
A Dutch appeals court said on Friday it was convinced of the terrorist intent of a teenager accused of planning to bomb government buildings, a nuclear reactor and perhaps an El Al plane, but upheld his acquittal as he had not gone far enough with his plot.
The arrest last year of Samir Azzouz, 19, sparked a national security alert. Authorities found machine-gun ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, two mock explosive devices, a silencer, maps and sketches of potential target buildings at his home.
"The defendant tried to make an explosive. In that respect, there is no doubt about the full extent of the terrorist intensions of the accused," the court said in its ruling.
"But what he had done to prepare an attack ... was in such an early stage and so crude and primitive that it posed no real threat within the foreseeable future."
The appeals court said Azzouz had tried to make an explosive device using Christmas tree lights, a plastic bottle and electric wire, but said it did not have an explosive charge or fuse and therefore presented no immediate danger.
Dressed entirely in black, the Dutch-Moroccan teenager shook hands with his lawyer and turned to smile at the public gallery after the ruling in a high-security court.
In April, a Rotterdam court jailed Azzouz for three months for illegal possession of weapons, but acquitted him of armed robbery and charges he planned to bomb buildings including a nuclear power station, government offices and Amsterdam airport.
The defense had accused prosecutors of assuming their client planned an "al Qaeda-style attack" just because he was a Muslim.
Possible appeal
Prosecutors said they were considering appealing to a higher court and said the case showed that Dutch law had to become clearer on how far somebody could go in planning an attack before the threat was considered acute enough for a conviction.
"We think this was more than just intent. He was experimenting, he had maps," Kiki Plugge, a spokeswoman for the prosecution. "We agree that he wasn't ready for an attack but perhaps two months later he would have been ready."
Azzouz was rearrested in October along with six other suspected Islamic militants on suspicion of a new attack plot.
The Dutch government has said the country faces a significant threat of terrorist attack and raised its alert level to "substantial" after the bombing attacks in London on July 7, the second highest in a four-stage warning system.
Two weeks ago the Dutch TV program Nova said Azzouz allegedly hoped to shoot down an El-Al airliner at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
The TV program said it had seen a police dossier of evidence against Azzouz, including reports from intelligence agencies and a video Azzouz allegedly recorded for his family and friends before an attack in which he expected to die.
In the video transcription on Nova’s website, Azzouz was quoted as calling the Netherlands’ government “Crusaders who supported Bush.” He also threatened “The Dutch people,” Nova said.
“You saw the images from the prisons of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, what they do there. You will be held responsible for this,” he was quoted as saying.
“We will, by Allah, take revenge ... You are considered soldiers because you elected this government ... We will spill your blood here as you helped steal the riches of the Muslims in Israel.”
