Dutch refuse to extradite Belgian ‘terrorist’

9 July 2004

AMSTERDAM − A court in the southern Dutch city Roermond ruled on Friday against extraditing a Belgian man of Moroccan origin to Morocco where he is wanted on terrorism suspicions.

The 29-year-old Khalid B. − who was arrested in the Dutch province Limburg in January − is accused of helping to finance terrorist attacks, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

After Roermond Court ruled against his extradition, the man’s remand detention was quashed. But he was immediately re-arrested because Belgium has also requested his extradition.

B., who lives in the Dutch town Weert, was allegedly involved in the Casablanca attacks in May 2003 which killed 43 people.

Belgian police arrested his brother-in-law, El Houcine el H., on 1 July on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings in March.

The arrest was linked to an operation carried out on 8 June, when Belgian authorities raided homes in Brussels, Schaarbeek and Antwerp and held 15 people.

Four of them are still being detained on allegations they were preparing an international terrorist attack from Belgium.

Meanwhile, B. will be transferred to Amsterdam on Monday, because recent changes mean that Amsterdam Court will in future handle all extradition requests.

Concerns were previously raised about his possible extradition to Morocco, where he could have been sentenced to death. The Netherlands — and the EU as a whole — is opposed to the death sentence.

The man’s lawyer said after the court ruling on Friday that a claim for damages will be lodged against the Dutch State, claiming that his client was unlawfully detained for five months.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news + Belgian news + terrorism