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| Europe |
| Dutch Al-Qaeda Suspects Go Free |
| 2002-12-18 |
| A Rotterdam court has acquitted four suspected members of an Islamic militant network linked to al-Qaeda on the grounds of insufficient evidence and procedural mistakes. Three of the four men were arrested in the immediate wake of the suicide bombings in the US in September 2001. They were suspected of planning to blow up the US embassy in Paris and a US airbase in Belgium. That was the airbase with nukes Police found fake passports, driving licences and credit cards in their Rotterdam home, as well as videos featuring messages from bin Laden and information on bomb making. Sounds like al-Qaeda to me The alleged plot included a fourth Algerian-born suspect, who was extradited to the Netherlands from Canada last summer. On the basis of the evidence, prosecutors demanded heavy sentences for the Frenchman, Dutchman and two Algerians, ranging from one to six years. During preliminary hearings, all suspects denied the allegations and rejected any links with a Europe-wide Islamic militant network. On Wednesday, the men were acquitted by a Rotterdam court, which ruled that there had been insufficient legal grounds to arrest the suspects and conduct the house searches. The investigators had acted on information provided by the Dutch AIVD intelligence service, but failed to follow the required legal procedures. The AIVD had tapped the suspects' telephones without prior permission. Oops! The court concluded that even if the investigation had been properly done, there was still insufficient proof the men were planning to bomb the US embassy. "If the court had had another opinion about the proper start of the investigations, we would still have reached the same conclusion with regard to the charges," Judge Stephaan van Klaveren told the court. In other words, they would have been let off no matter what the evidence was. The ruling adds yet another dent to the image of Dutch intelligence and security officials. It comes a day after the publication of an independent report slamming the authorities for their failure to provide special protection to Pim Fortuyn, the popular Dutch politician who was assassinated shortly before last May's election. The report singled out the AIVD as well as the Justice and Interior Ministries for particular criticism, accusing them of overall laxness. With allies like this, etc |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 This kind of crap shows why it's better to put these kind of guys in a cage at Guantanamo Bay. |
| Posted by: Peter 2002-12-18 14:21:06 |
| #1 I hope that phone tap is still in place- with a party line to the NSA and Mossad. |
| Posted by: Hermetic 2002-12-18 12:51:41 |