Today and tomorrow, suspects are again appearing before the court for their involvement in the disturbances surrounding the football match Ajax – Maccabi Tel Aviv that was played on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. Prosecutors demanded prison sentences of up to twelve months for three men aged between 22 and 27. Tomorrow, two more suspects will appear in court.
The prosecutor demanded a two-month prison sentence for a 27-year-old man from Amsterdam on suspicion of providing information to commit violence and group defamation. The suspect had been active for nearly a day in the WhatsApp group Buurthuis2. This was a WhatsApp group that one could join simply by clicking on a link that was circulated in other app groups. At the time the group was secured by the police, it had 966 members. In this group, the suspect provided tips on how to disguise oneself well, reported locations, and shared videos. According to the Public Prosecution Service, there can be no other conclusion than that the suspect actively sought to contribute to the hunt for Maccabi supporters.
This man is also suspected of group defamation: he made statements in the group that were offensive to Jews based on race and/or religion. Additionally, the Public Prosecution Service suspects the man of justifying and trivializing the Holocaust. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the man has violated the relatively new law article 137c paragraph 2 Sr. This article explicitly criminalizes justifying, denying, or grossly trivializing international crimes.
Taxi Driver
A 22-year-old man from Diemen, who is also suspected of providing information to commit violence, allegedly posted a series of intense and violent messages in the Buurthuis app. The suspect, a taxi driver by profession, used a taxi with a license plate of which he is the registered owner as his WhatsApp profile picture. Police investigations have revealed that he was a driving force behind the disturbances in the city. He made suggestions to use violence and directed others on how they could assault Israeli supporters.
The texts of this suspect were aimed at Jews/Zionists/Israelis and Maccabi supporters; these terms were used interchangeably by the suspect. These texts appear to target a group of people based on their race and/or religion. The Public Prosecution Service has considered the discriminatory aspect as an aggravating factor in the sentencing demand. Taking everything into account, the prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of twelve months, of which four months are conditional, with a probation period of two years.
Video
The third suspect who appeared in court today is a 26-year-old man from Amsterdam who was recognized by officers as the man who struck an older fleeing man with a belt. The suspect has admitted to using his belt to strike at the man. With the video and the report drawn up about it, the evidence is, in the view of the Public Prosecution Service, complete. Taking everything into account, the prosecutor demanded an eleven-day prison sentence, equal to the time he has been in pre-trial detention.
Verdict: March 19