In the Netherlands, a police team in Amsterdam arrested a man on Friday evening on suspicion of planning an attack on Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The newspaper De Telegraaf reported this on its website on Sunday. The Amsterdam police confirm the arrest but say they cannot give any further details. “We expect to be able to say more on Monday,” a spokeswoman said.
According to De Telegraaf, it concerns 61-year-old Gerrit M., who was arrested in his home on Westlandgracht in Amsterdam. The detectives tracked down the suspect thanks to a tape recording of a conversation between an unknown person and M., in which the latter explicitly states how and why he wants to have Mark Rutte murdered.
For example, M. says on the tape about Rutte: “I want to kill this man. Someone has to put a gun in his mouth and then shoot. They must kill him, he must go. He is at the top of the list to be killed.”
The detectives are investigating, among other things, the authenticity of the recording and the backgrounds of Gerrit M., who in the past came into contact with the police more often and who owned a casino, among other things. The police also check whether the statements made by M. during the tapped conversation count as acts of preparation for an attack.
It is not the first time that the police has taken action after threats against Prime Minister Rutte. In September last year, De Telegraaf revealed that the security of the Prime Minister had been significantly increased after indications that ‘spotters’ of the mocromafia had been spotted in his area.
The prime minister, who prefers to cycle through The Hague, has since been protected by the Royal and Diplomatic Security Service (DKDB) of the national police.
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