A 22-year-old man from Morocco has been acquitted by the police judge in Assen of spraying a liquid through the fence of the asylum seekers’ center (azc) in Ter Apel. Five people, including a security guard and two employees of the center, received a corrosive substance in their faces on September 5.
The five suffered from burning eyes, shortness of breath or nausea. Ambulance staff treated them on the spot, but no one needed to be hospitalized. Based on CCTV footage, the man was arrested immediately after the incident for attempted aggravated assault.
The investigation by the Netherlands Forensic Institute has not revealed which substance was sprayed. In that case, according to the public prosecutor, it cannot be established that there was a risk of serious physical injury. She found that assault had been proven and therefore demanded a prison sentence of three months.
The man was released more than a week after his arrest. The judge found the images too unclear to hold him any longer. The Moroccan was then transferred to Germany, where an asylum procedure is already underway.
Before the court hearing, the camera images were further enlarged. But even those did not convince the judge with 100 percent that it was the 22-year-old suspect who injected at that time.