Expatica news

Ajax fans in attempted murder and arson case

19 June 2006

AMSTERDAM — The court case against 17 Ajax Amsterdam supporters accused of taking part in the attempt to burn down the supporters’ clubhouse of ADO Den Haag began on Monday morning.

Prosecutors will argue that the accused men should not be regarded as football hooligans but members of a criminal organisation who are jointly responsible for all the crimes committed during the incident.

The men also face charges of attempted murder, attempted homicide and arson. The hearing in The Hague is expected to run until Thursday.

Approximately 70 Ajax fans charged into the clubhouse on 10 February and assaulted the eight ADO supporters present with a baseball bats and other weapons. Two ADO fans were stabbed as some of the Ajax supporters, carrying petrol bombs, started a fire.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) has identified 52 suspects to date who will face court for the attack.

Days after the storming of the ADO base, police foiled what appeared to an attempt by ADO fans to exact revenge on the Ajax supporters’ clubhouse.

Separately, Mayor Peter den Oosten of Enschede ordered the closure on Monday of a clubhouse used by a section of the supporters of local soccer club FC Twente. A spokesperson for Enschede City Council said hard drugs, including cocaine, were being sold in and around the building used by the ‘Vak P’ supporters. The case is to be reviewed in September to see if the drug dealers are still active in the area.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch news