Six Dutch jihadi suspects go on trial, but none will be in court
Six alleged Dutch jihadis go on trial on Thursday but none of them will be in court to hear the case against them, the Telegraaf reports.
Three have refused to attend the trial because they object to being strip-searched twice, the paper says. Two others are in Syria and one is dead.
Three men – Oussama C, Azzedine C (alias Abou Moussa) and Rudolph H – are being held at the high security terrorist wing at Vught prison.
According to their lawyers, the suspects will not come to court because they will have to undergo two body searches, which they regard as extremely humiliating. Court attendance is not compulsory in the Netherlands.
‘Our clients will not cooperate with having their body cavities inspected,’ lawyer Michiel Pestman told news agency ANP.
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Two other suspects – Aniz Z and Hatim R – are known to be in Syria. The third, Soufiane Z, is thought to have died during a bombardment.
He hit the headlines after making a short film about Dutch jihadis called Oh Oh Aleppo, a pastiche title on a reality soap. He also claimed that Dutch jihadis would not be a danger if they returned home.
The public prosecution department says it will continue to press charges against Z until it has concrete proof he is dead.
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