The Hindu : Dutch judge orders four terrorist suspects released

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

International

International

Dutch judge orders four terrorist suspects released

ROTTERDAM (THE Netherlands) May 20. A Dutch court unexpectedly freed four of 12 men accused of belonging to a terrorist recruitment cell in the Netherlands.

The order to release the suspects late on Monday came after the prosecution reduced the charges against them and sought jail sentences that were less than the time they had spent in detention.

The 12 defendants had originally been charged with ``lending support to enemies of the Netherlands in a time of armed conflict,'' a reference to the Dutch support for the U.S.-led anti-terror war in Afghanistan. The charge, not invoked since World War II, carries a maximum life sentence. But prosecutor Jo Valente reduced the charges to ``membership in a criminal organisation,'' which has a maximum sentence of six years. He recommended sentences ranging from six months to 3 years for all the defendants.

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