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Dutch court convicts Islamists | Dutch court convicts Islamists |
(10 minutes later) | |
A Dutch court has sentenced four militant Islamists to prison for planning terror attacks on politicians and the Dutch intelligence service. | A Dutch court has sentenced four militant Islamists to prison for planning terror attacks on politicians and the Dutch intelligence service. |
Samir Azzouz, 20, was sentenced to eight years while three others received terms of between three and four years. | Samir Azzouz, 20, was sentenced to eight years while three others received terms of between three and four years. |
Some of the group were alleged to have links to the so-called Hofstad group, whose leader was convicted of the killing of film-maker Theo Van Gogh. | Some of the group were alleged to have links to the so-called Hofstad group, whose leader was convicted of the killing of film-maker Theo Van Gogh. |
Two other defendants were acquitted of terror charges. | Two other defendants were acquitted of terror charges. |
The presiding judge said Dutch-Moroccan Azzouz, the ringleader of the group, had been striving to carry out his terrorist aims for several years. | |
'Test case' | |
The court ruled that evidence presented in the case suggested Azzouz was planning an "imminent terror attack". | |
The evidence included a suicide video, automatic weapons and manuals explaining how to turn mobile phones into detonators. | |
Prosecutors claimed that the loosely-linked group was an extension of the Hofstad group. | |
Two other men - Mourridin El Fatmi and Mohammed Chentouf - were sentenced to four years in prison. | |
The only female defendant in the case - Soumaya Sahla - received a three-year sentence. | |
Correspondents say the case has been seen as test case for the Netherlands' recently introduced tighter anti-terror laws. |