Abdelaziz al H., also known as the ‘Bar Jihadist’, has been sentenced on appeal to six years and six months in prison for participating in the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra. That reports the court of The Hague. The sentence is a lot less than the almost sixteen years imprisonment he received earlier from the court of Rotterdam, because the court does not consider it proven that Al H. had a leading role within the terrorist group. The 37-year-old Syrian came into the picture of the police after he attended a meeting at De Balie debate center in Amsterdam, where he lives.
Abdelaziz al H. – alias Aziz – entered the Netherlands in 2014 under a false name. There he and his brother were granted asylum as a Syrian refugee. Three years later, Al H. was recognized by Syrian human rights activists after a film screening in De Balie. According to them, he was a former leader of the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra.
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The case gained even more publicity when it turned out that the ‘Balie jihadist’ is also the ex-boyfriend of journalist Ans Boersma. Boersma worked in Turkey as a correspondent for, among others The Financial Timesuntil she was deported from the country in 2019 because the Dutch authorities had informed Turkey about her relationship with Al H. Boersma denies ever knowing during the relationship that her boyfriend was with a terrorist organization.
Visa application completed incorrectly
The two met in 2013 and a year later Boersma helped him obtain a residence permit in the Netherlands by incorrectly completing documents in his visa application. In 2021, Boersma was found guilty of forgery, but she was not punished.
In September 2021, Al H. was sentenced by the Rotterdam court to fifteen years and nine months in prison for, among other things, leading a terrorist organization and preparing terrorist crimes. He was acquitted of murder with terrorist intent due to lack of evidence. He appealed against this judgment.
Al H.’s brother Fatah was sentenced to eleven years and nine months in prison for participation in a terrorist organization and money laundering. He was arrested in the Netherlands in 2018 because he was also said to have been part of the terrorist group. According to the Rotterdam court, he was a manager in, among other things, a prison. His appeal will be heard next year.