little green footballs

Dutch Terrorists Convicted

Fri, Mar 10, 2006 at 11:08:32 am

Nine of the Islamic terrorists in the infamous “Hofstad group,” who plotted to murder filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and others, have been convicted in the Netherlands. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

A court has convicted nine Muslims of belonging to a terrorist group and planning to attack Dutch politicians.

Two men in the so-called Hofstad group were jailed for 15 and 13 years for using a hand grenade against police. The court did not pass a jail term on the group’s leader, Mohammed Bouyeri, as he is already serving life in prison for murdering film-maker Theo van Gogh. ...

Prosecutors had called for members of the Hofstad group to be jailed for up to 20 years, accusing them of inciting hatred of non-Muslims. Five suspects in the trial were acquitted by the court, which ruled there was not enough evidence to show they were involved in planning terrorism.

Jason Walters, the son of a US citizen, received the heaviest sentence of 15 years, while Ismael Aknikh was given a 13-year jail term. Both men were alleged to have worked together during a confrontation with police in November 2004, in which a hand grenade was thrown, injuring five officers.