Alleged Islamic State Terrorist Tried for War Crimes in Netherlands After Posing With Severed Head

Three Southeast Asians in IS beheading video blacklisted by US
AFP
Liam Deacon

A suspected Dutch jihadist who travelled to Syria, has gone on trial after allegedly posing next to a beheaded body in a photo posted on Facebook.

The man, who is now back in the Netherlands, was arrested in July after allegedly fighting and recruiting for the Islamic State terror group.

The 23-year-old, known as Oussama A., comes from Utrecht and could be found guilty of war crimes, Dutch press claims.

He has already been sentenced to six years in jail in Turkey for membership of a terrorist organisation, but was released whilst awaiting an appeal, Algemeen Dagblad reports.

He is on trial in the Netherlands along with another suspected jihadist, 24-year-old Reda N., who is described as Syrian but comes from the Dutch city of Leiden.

The pair arrived back in the Netherlands at the beginning of summer, flying into Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, where they were arrested and detained.

It is very unusual for someone to be tried and convicted for the same crime twice; however, Dutch lawyers argue that he has not yet been charged with recruiting others to the cause or for the war crime charge relating to the beheading image.

“In addition, the lawsuit in Turkey has not yet been completed, so we can also prosecute,” a spokesman told Algemeen Dagblad.

But a lawyer for the two men, Yasar Özdemir, said the Dutch prosecution was “unnecessary” and could be politically motivated.

“The case is still running in Turkey. If they are convicted there, they have to serve the rest of their sentence in the Netherlands,” he said.

Last year, a Dutch woman who travelled to Syria and Iraq to support her family while her husband fought with the Islamic State group was convicted of supporting terrorism.

Laura Hansen, 22, was sentenced to two years in jail after travelling to the terrorist territory in September 2015 before surrendering to Kurdish forces in 2016.

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