A 17-year-old boy from Eindhoven, who allegedly threatened terrorist attacks and beheading people, has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service. If he commits another crime in the next two years, he will spend 20 months in prison.
The public prosecutor has demanded this at the court in Rotterdam. The case was dealt with in private because the suspect is a minor. The Eindhoven resident was 16 when he was arrested last May. A now 20-year-old Arnhem resident was also arrested at the same time as him. The same sentences were demanded against him, but with a probation period of three years. The verdict in both cases will follow in two weeks.
Plans for attacks
According to the judiciary, the two suspects had contact via social media and the internet in 2022 and 2023 about their plans for attacks. They allegedly discussed, among other things, attacks on nightclubs and police stations in Belgium.
They are also said to have exchanged ideas about beheadings and buying weapons and explosives. Furthermore, there was serious discussion about traveling to Afghanistan, where they wanted to participate in the jihad with Islamic State (IS), the armed struggle against ‘infidels’.
Eight months’ pretrial detention
Their arrest followed after seven people were arrested in Belgium in May for plotting a terrorist attack. Two months later, a couple was arrested in Breda and Eindhoven for similar offences.
Earlier last year, nine Eindhoven terrorist suspects were acquitted. The court found that it could not be established that they wanted to commit an attack. Up to four years was demanded. A number of suspects spent eight months in pre-trial detention.
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