The 19-year-old man who entered De Copelle primary school in Oisterwijk on Tuesday ‘is not a terrorist’, says his lawyer Rachid el Bellaj. “It is of course terrible what happened and I understand that people are shocked, but it is not nearly as black and white as has been portrayed in the media.”
The lawyer speaks of a character assassination ‘of a very young boy’ who committed this act ‘due to certain circumstances’. “Many people have an opinion about it, but it is not as rigorous as it has all been reported,” said El Bellaj. He is officially suspected of ‘threat with or without a terrorist motive’. “But he is not a terrorist and he also had no terrorist motive.”
It was announced on Friday that the examining magistrate has decided that he must remain in custody for two weeks longer. The man must appear in the Breda court on November 29. It will become clear whether he will have to be detained longer or whether he will be released, with or without certain conditions, according to El Bellaj. He expects he will not be released before then: “That is not possible.”
“That boy has never been convicted of anything.”
The lawyer complains about the way the case was handled in the media. “Too many things have been written down that are factually incorrect,” says El Bellaj. “For example, he did not go to school at De Copelle, he is not a difficult boy in the neighborhood, he was not being treated by youth care, he was not in a “I have been to rehab and not in juvenile detention. In fact, that boy has never been convicted of anything. But it is all written down.”
However, his client still has an open case for theft and he has been fined for ‘recklessness’, according to the lawyer. “The police say he is an acquaintance, but it is not the case that he came into contact with them regularly.”
“Parents cannot arm themselves against all untruths.”
This is a huge blow, especially for his client’s parents. “They’ve had a lot to deal with. These are all untruths that they cannot protect themselves against. And Oisterwijk is a very small community, it goes around like that.” According to the lawyer, his client is ‘doing well considering the circumstances’, although ‘of course no one likes to be detained longer’. El Bellaj says his client wants to come out with his side of the story at a later date.
YOU MAY ALSO FIND THIS INTERESTING:
Man (19) who entered a school in Oisterwijk remains in custody longer