Terror trials

In the Netherlands one terror trial ended with a jail sentence of 8 years for Samir Azzouz, and in Denmark a terror trial is just starting.

First, the Netherlands:

A court in Amsterdam sentenced Samir A. and three other Islamic militants to prison on Friday for planning terror attacks on politicians and the intelligence service AIVD.

Samir A., 20, was jailed for eight years and three others — Nourrdin El F., Mohammed C. en Soumaya S. — received terms of between three and four years.

Some of suspects were alleged to have links to the Hofstad group, whose leader was convicted of killing filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

Two other defendants were acquitted of terror charges.

The presiding judge at the heavily-secured Amsterdam-Osdorp court said A. had been striving to carry out his terrorist aims for several years.

The Dutch-Moroccan A. was said to be the ringleader of the suspects.

Although he had been placed on trial several times previously, this is the first time that A. has been convicted.

The public prosecution had demanded a 15-year jail term against him.

The court ruled that evidence presented in the case suggested A. was planning an "imminent terror attack".

The evidence included a suicide video, automatic weapons and manuals explaining how to turn mobile phones into detonators.

And in Denmark:

The government's anti-terror laws face a major test in the trial of four young men accused of plotting a terror action

The long-awaited trial of four young men accused of a terror plot begins Wednesday in the Eastern High Court.

Police arrested the four men, aged 18 to 21, in October 2005, based on a tip from Bosnian police that the suspects had connections with two men they had apprehended. While all four suspects were born in Denmark and speak fluent Danish, they have been linked to fundamentalist Islamic groups abroad.

Prosecutors hope to convince the court that the men were in the midst of planning a major terrorist plot somewhere in Europe when they were apprehended in the western Copenhagen suburb of Glostrup.

They note the four men all had contact with the two suspects involved in the Bosnian case, one a Turkish Dane called 'AC' in police reports, and a Bosnian Swede called 'Maximus'.

Bosnian police arrested AC and Maximus in a Sarajevo apartment with 20 kg of explosives, a belt which could be used for a suicide bombing and a video with masked men discussing a terror plot against countries with soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prosecutors could have a difficult time convincing the court of the suspects' guilt, however, said Jørn Vestergaard, a docent in criminal law at the University of Copenhagen.

'The crucial point will be how the court interprets information about what the accused have done, and a ticking bomb is lacking here,' Vestergaard told daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende. 'To lift the burden of proof, the individual and divergent elements must be connected to form a sufficiently solid case.'

If convicted, the four suspects could face a life sentence.

Source: Expatica (English), Copenhagen Post (English)

Transcript of Samir Azzouz's Statement

Samir Azzouz, a Moroccan-Dutch, is now standing trial for the 3rd time on charges of terrorism. At one point he left a video-taped testament, intending it to be his last message to the world.

Dutch broadcaster NOVA has gotten hold of this video (clip available) and put out a Dutch translation and transcript, which is slightly different than the official police translation. The following was translated from the NOVA translation.

Many thanks to Klein Verzet, who helped me with the translation and with finding the Quran sources.

Quran quotes appear in italics and are taken as much as possible from the University of Michigan site. Comments not in the original Arabic or Dutch translation appear in blue. "Notes from the translators" are notes from the Arabic to Dutch translation.

----- Begin Statement ----

The message begins with recitals from the Koran:

Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement. [9:111]

Samir appears and reads the following text:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Much praise and thanks to Allah. Praise Allah who has imposed on his servants the obligation to help his believing servants to shoot. He says in the Book which has been sent down: If they seek aid from you in the matter of religion, aid is incumbent on you (except against a people between whom and you there is a treaty). [8:72]

And peace be upon his cheerful and contrary messenger who says: "an unbeliever and his murderer will never meet each other in the fires of hell". Peace be upon all his fellow men and companions who struck the necks of apostates.

[Possible reference to Sura 47:4?]

So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so); and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will by no means allow their deeds to perish.


And continued:
I, Samir Azzouz, Abou Sayfouddine, address my message and my advice today to the Muslims in Europe, as well as to my parent and my family, to my brothers in the jails of the despots and to the Dutch government and its people.

My message to the Muslims who believe just as we do that there is no God but Allah, to them who condemn the devil (the despots) and believe in Allah, consists of barely two words, that I swear by Allah: "Attack or be attacked". What do you think of our oppressed brothers in
Afghanistan, in Chechnya, in Iraq, in Palestine, in the Philippines and in Kashmir. Allah, the Exalted, says in his Holy Book: And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper. [4.75]

Don't you know that the Jihad now is a justifiable Jihad and that is it Fard Ain, an individual religious obligation.

(After this the recording is apparently stopped and subsequently resumed. The click of a button is audible)

My message to my family and my parents is: Have patience (be strong) and know that this is the right path and know that I'm performing this act out of fear for the punishment of Allah, the Exalted, because he says: If you do not march out, he will punish you with a painful
punishment" and out of obedience to Allah who says: Fighting is enjoined on you, and h is an object of dislike to you; and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you [2.216]

We must prepare ourselves for the day of departure.

Quran recitation is resumed:

But when the deafening cry comes,
The day on which a man shall fly from his brother,
And his mother and his father,
And his spouse and his son--
Every man of them shall on that day have an affair which will occupy him. [80:33-37]

Samir appears again and continues with reading his message:

And Allah the Exalted says:

And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord;
Rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.
They rejoice on account of favor from Allah and (His) grace, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers. [3: 169-171]

When I performed this act, I did it with the conviction that I followed the right Manhaj (religious method). I saw the prophet of Allah in my dream with a smile on his face sitting before me. I saw him after I entered into a dispute with the hypocrites who claim that they follow the path of the righteous predecessors. I saw him, peace be upon him, sitting across from me smiling. He began to read to me verses from the Quran. And he says:

Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector. [3.173]

Below is my message to my brothers who sit in the prisons of the Tawaghit (despots).

Quran recitation is resumed:

Apparently Sura 85:7-8

And they were witnesses of what they did with the believers.
And they did not take vengeance on them for aught except that they believed in Allah, the Mighty, the Praised

Samir comes into view again and resumes reading:

To my brother Abou Zubair and the American and Souhaib. To you I say: I love you for the sake of Allah. Tolerate patiently what you encounter, if you have just the knowledge that they know just like you. You anticipate from Allah what they don't anticipate. Don't lose heart and don't grieve. You have the upper hand if you are faithful. We truly pray for you during our prayers and submissiveness so that Allah will grant your freedom and martyrdom for his sake.

Last follows the message to the Dutch gov't and to its people.

Regarding my message to the gov't: it is the message of our prophet, peace be upon him, to the Mushrikin (the idolators) of Quraish (the tribe to whom the people of Mecca belonged). Then he aid: "I brought you the slaughter"

Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, may Allah guard him, has warned you regularly and frequently. The Mujaheeden Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri has also warned you regularly and frequently.

And our beloved sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (translator's note: Samir becomes emotional) may Allah protect him, has warned you as well. But you have committed only more injustice, you crusaders. You supported Bush when he uttered his known word "Let the crusades
begin". I say to you that between you and us only the language of the sword count until you leave the Muslims alone and choose the path of peace.

I have the following question for the Dutch people: Did Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, may Allah protect him, attack America or the Netherlands? And did Saddam Hussein, may Allah curse him, attack the Kurds or the Dutch? What is your role, you fools? You want democracy. That means that you are responsible for the deeds of your government. Your soldiers in Iraq are holding our brothers there, the fighters that rose up for Allah and hand them over to the British and the Americans.

You have seen the pictures (translator's note: Samir becomes emotional) of what happens to them in the prisons of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib (translator's note: Samir has trouble with naming the prisons and becomes emotional). You are therefore held responsible. We will, by Allah, take revenge for each tear that fell out of the eyes of the mothers and children of the Muslims. We will take revenge for each Muslim (translator's note: Samir once again becomes emotional) that was killed while he fought for Allah. You're considered as fighters because you have chosen this gov't. Your fortunes and your blood are permitted to us. Just as you have spilled the blood of the Muslim citizens in Iraq, we will spill your blood here, and because you have stolen the possessions of the Muslims in Iraq or followed the example of your American bosses, we will appropriate your properties.

Keep your hands off the Muslims anywhere in the world and don't follow any example to attack Muslims. We have sworn allegiance to Allah and his envoy to accept death. We will let you, for certain, forget the abomination of the Holocaust. Wait, Allah is our protector, you have
no protector. Allah is mighty, the glory belongs to Islam, the prophet and the believers but the hypocrites are ignorant.

(Note from the translators: the translator has tried to reproduce the
poem as fully as possible)

He grabbed his sword and stood, shaking himself
His flashing weapon was his faith
He left his friends, the friends he used to play with
He left, both his sides glowing like fire
How can he live restively when Islam calls?
Who would stand up for faith
We saw him pass by in his pure garments
Like a dream to our waking eyes
Not yet twenty was he, with his radiant appearance
His blooming youth made him like a fragrant plant
A bullet ended his life
His pure blood ran on (across) his face
His mother hurried near: Where has my son gone?
Will he not return to me?
In the distance his funeral appeared, enclosed in divine dignity
Senseless, her eye followed him disappearing in the distance
And then a mournful cry escaped her
A boy answered: Your son has obeyed his creator
And went to meet his wish
He dwells in the peaceful gardens of Paradise
Cry not for him, mother, don't cry

second male voice shouts at the end (this is a recording):
The martyr is victorious and the heroes are victorious


[- end of message -]

(Translators note: Except for Quran passages, the text is formulated in so-called Modern Standard Arabic. In formulating this letter careful attention was paid to sentence construction, grammatical use and expressions).

Samir Azzouz accused of recruiting for Jihad

Samir Azzouz continues to make headlines in the Netherlands. Last week he was transferred from one prison to another because of complaints that the guards were harassing him. The 19 year old Moroccan-Dutch terrorist also celebrated the birth of his 2nd daughter.

This week, he's being accused of recruiting at least three people for the global islamic war, a punishable offence from August 2004. He's also accused of attacking a reporter after he was freed from prison in April 2005.

Sources: AD.nl (Dutch), Telegraaf (Dutch)

Previous posts on Samir Azzouz (partial list):
Plot in Holland - Shoot Down El-Al Plane
Samir Azzouz planned more attacks
Samir Azzouz acquitted
Samir Azzouz asked Belgian to commit suicide attack

Samir Azzouz planned more attacks

According to the public prosecution Samir Azzouz did not waste much time after he was freed from jail last April and immediately set about to get more weapons and explosives in order to commit more terror attacks.

Possible targets were various politicians as well as the Dutch security services (AIVD). According to other reports, he also planned to shoot down an El-Al plane.

Samir left a taped message as final will and testament where he says: "You are considered as fighters because you have chosen this government. We will spill your blood just as you have spilt the blood of the people of Iraq." There was also a "test" version of the will on the same video.

Samir Azzouz was acquitted in November of planning a terrorist attack because according to the court the manufacturing of an explosive device was at such an early stage that there was no real threat.

Source: NRC Handelsblad (Dutch)

New terrorist group in the Netherlands

A new movement of young Muslim extremists is starting off, in the wake of the Hofstad group. The so called “Tafkif-light movement”, that deviates little ideologically from the original Hofstad group, is very active on the internet.

Unlike the Hofstad group, however, the new movement is much easier to join.

The flexible admission requirements and the quick online distribution of Jihadic material provides feeding grounds for potential terrorists. Documents such as those by Mohammed Bouyeri are quickly translated and spread

According to various sources, Samir Azzouz worked together with representatives of the new movement.

The group consists of about a hundred youth, living especially in Amsterdam. Some meet together to learn radical theology, others meet each other in chatgroups and via email.

According to Ruud Peters, an Arabist that analyzed documents for the Hofstad trial, the new movement is circulating new material. For example: 45 appeals for the fights of the Dutch Muslim Oem Qataadah and material validating the fight against Americans outside Iraq.

Samir Azzouz asked Belgian to commit suicide attack

Samir Azzouz, who was recently exonerated by the Dutch courts of terrorism charges (he wasn’t yet ready to carry out an attack), has apparently asked a Belgian Moroccan to commit a suicide attack on the Dutch security service, AIVD.

The Belgian was recently arrested in Morocco for trying to establish a terrorist organization there. The terror network was set up to prepare attacks against American and Jewish targets in Morocco.

Three Dutch recruited for Jihad

Three Muslims from the Hague have disappeared after having apparently been recruited to the Jihad in Iraq.

At least one of them had contact with Samir Azzouz. The Dutch security services, AIVD, are conducting an investigation, but will not say for what.

The three are two Moroccans and one Turk, aged 18-21. A Turkish visa application was found in a search by the house of one of those missing, showing that he apparently intended to go through Turkey, a route already used in the past.

The AIVD knows of tens of Dutch Jihad fighters currently in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Two Dutch from Eindhoven had been killed on Jihad in Kashmir in 2002. They had been recruited in the Al Fourqaan Mosque.

Samir Azzouz acquitted

A court in the Hague acquitted Samir Azzouz on appeal of preparing a terror attack. The court does not doubt Azzouz's terroristic intentions, but found no proof that he was ready to carry out an attack. The manufacturing of an explosive device was at such an early stage that there was no real threat, according to the court.

The decision was received with surprise by Dutch politicians. Verhagen, chairman of the CDA party, called the acquittal "unacceptable". According to him, the big question now is whether the new anti-terrorism law applies also to terroristic intentions. If not, the law should be made so.

Prime Minister Balkenende was also suprised with the acquittal, "but we are a law-abiding country. The laws and procedures of the Dutch crimminal law will be enforced. " He added, though, that that it's a question whether the current laws accept the possibility of terrorism.

The PvdA party thinks that people with terroristic intentions should be punishable, if they go through with their plans, no matter how successful.

The public prosectution was disappointed with the judgement. "We interpret the law differently. We think that acts of preparation show enough intent to commit an assault and there was enough evidence that an explosive device was being prepared."

Azzouz had not yet been freed and is imprisoned on other suspicions (ie, trying to shoot down an El-Al plane). The public prosecution did not announce yet if it will appeal the decision.

Azzouz had already been acquitted in the past of armed robbery and planning terrorist attacks due to lack of evidence.

How many times does Azzouz need to plan terror attacks before the Dutch people wake up to the fact that he wants to kill them? Should the Dutch be penalized just because police caught the terrorist before he managed to get to a more advanced stage in planning and preparation?

Azzouz himself does not hide his intentions. To quote his message to the Dutch people, left in a taped statement: You are considered like fighters because you have chosen this government. Your fortune and your blood are permitted to us.

That is, for Azzouz the Dutch are not merely civilians. They are guilty by association and are therefore liable for punishment.

Plot in Holland - Shoot Down El-Al Plane

Dutch TV program Nova reports Samir Azzouz, 19-year-old son of Moroccan immigrants, allegedly plotted to shoot down an El-Al airliner at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. In video transcription on Nova’s website, Azzouz quoted as calling Dutch government ‘crusaders who supported Bush; we will, by Allah, take revenge - we will spill your blood here as you helped steal the riches of Muslims in Israel’

Samir has taped a testament where he leaves messages for his family, co-terrorists, the Dutch government and the Dutch people. The following is translated from the Nova site:

Another part of his testament is addressed to the government. "I say to you that between you and us only the language of the sword will count till you will leave Muslims in peace and choose the way of peace," so says Samir.

At the end of his taped testament Samir addresses the Dutch: "You are considered like fighters because you have chosen this government. Your fortune and your blood are permitted to us."