The man who was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist crime is a member of the Nijmegen department of the right-wing nationalist Great-Dutch Student Association (GNSV). The association confirms this on Sunday Omroep Gelderland.
The 24-year-old man was arrested in Badhoevedorp on Thursday, The Public Prosecution Service reported Friday. He is also suspected of ‘possession of weapons and the manufacture of (parts of) weapons and ammunition. The man himself said he was a member of the extreme right -wing youth organization De Geuzenbond, the OM reported.
The AIVD told the police that the suspect would be willing to commit right-backed violence, after which the police started an investigation. On Friday, the examining magistrate in Rotterdam decided that the man will stay in jail for two weeks. In a house in the Brabant village of Erp, where the man was registered, the police found firearms and ammunition.
Controversial association with extreme right -wing ties
The controversial student association GNSV, which is affiliated with the extreme right-wing networks, strives for the Association of the Netherlands and Flanders for a Great-Nederland. In the past, the GNSV organized events with, among others, Dries Van Langenhove, founder of the Radical-Right Youth Movement Schild & Vrienden, and the action group Outpost labeled by the AIVD as the extremely right.
The GNSV says it is shocked to Omroep Gelderland and have suspended the member pending a process. The presence of the GNSV on information markets during the Nijmegen and Leiden information markets during introduction weeks for new students led to criticism in recent years. In 2023, the association came in the news nationally after a fight with members of Antifa on the Nijmegen introduction market.
A few members laid flowers on the 11th day of Hans Janmaat last June on the grave of the politician convicted in 1995 for discrimination and incitement to foreign hatred. The association has departments in Nijmegen and Leiden, with both ten to fifteen members. The establishment of a Utrecht department will follow in September.
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This report about the GNSV from the Leiden introduction week last week