Dutch court jails militant for plotting attacks

AMSTERDAM - A Dutch court sentenced a Muslim man to three years in jail under tough new anti-terrorism laws yesterday for planning "violent jihad" and trying to recruit volunteers while already in prison.

Bilal Lamrani, a Dutchman of Moroccan origin who had been jailed for threatening rightwing politician Geert Wilders, had offered fellow inmates money for information on how to get hold semtex explosive and hand grenades, the court said.

The new charge of recruiting for jihad and membership of a criminal organisation with terrorist intent is intended to enable militants to be convicted before the attacks they plan are carried out. It was introduced in 2004.

Past trials using similar charges in the Netherlands, Germany and other countries have collapsed.

"This is the largest legal victory against terrorism after the conviction of Mohammed Bouyeri," said Edwin Bakker, from the Clingendael Institute for International Relations, referring to the sentenced killer of a Dutch filmmaker.

"It's a good sign we have found an answer in the Netherlands to the new practice of recruitment ... it will give a clear signal," he said.

Lamrani, who once worked as a pizza delivery man, was found guilty of "preparing and facilitating terrorist crimes", the Rotterdam court said in a statement published on its website.

His lawyers had argued there was not enough evidence to prove he wanted to recruit fellow prisoners, that witnesses were unreliable and that their testimony had been contradictory.

Lamrani, 21, had said in jail that he wanted to kill Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner, Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali for making insulting comments about Islam, the court heard.

Somali-born lawmaker Hirsi Ali wrote the script of the controversial film "Submission" whose director, Theo van Gogh, was stabbed and shot dead by the Islamist militant Bouyeri in 2004.

"The suspect indicated he thought it would be wonderful to die a 'holy death' by blowing himself up in a public space with many people, in particular the AIVD (intelligence service)," the court said.

Lamrani appeared as a prosecution witness in the trial of 13 suspected Islamist militants last month, but said he had fabricated his earlier testimony to stop police from harassing him.

Police found handbooks about poison and how to make and detonate explosives on Lamrani's computer when they raided his parents' house. They also found "radical Islamist" writings.

The court said Lamrani had tried to convince fellow detainees to come with him to a training camp in Pakistan or Afghanistan in order to "die a martyr and join a group that wants to fight the West and join in the violent jihad".

- REUTERS