Two men have denied being involved in a ram-raid attack on the Telegraaf newspaper offices on the orders of the Netherlands’ most notorious drugs criminal.

A van loaded with jerrycans full of petrol was driven into the glass facade of the building on the Basisweg in Amsterdam and set on fire on June 26, 2018. Nobody was injured in the incident, which the lawyer for the Telegraaf described as ‘an attack on justice and democracy’.

Two of the suspects told judges at the high-security courtroom in Amsterdam known as ‘the Bunker’ that they had nothing to do with the incident, while a third invoked his right to silence. The other two were not present in court.

The court heard it was unclear which of the suspects drove the van, a Volkswagen Caddy, into the building. An Audi RS5 which was used as a getaway vehicle was found burned out the next day beside a slip road of the A10 motorway.

Police believe the attack was staged by associates of Ridouan Taghi, who is accused of orchestrating five gangland murders and a string of other offences.

Altogether 11 people are standing trial for membership of a criminal organisation, theft and handling stolen goods. Prosecutors say the gang hired and stole high performance cars to order and trawled online trading sites such as Marktplaats for suitable vehicles.