One of the Netherlands’ best-known jihadists, Samir A. would have to go to jail (again) for six years, the Public Prosecution Service demands. This time because he helped Dutch IS women escape from camps in Syria. “Samir’s pursuit of martyrdom that he knew in the past has only taken on a different shape now.”
In 2019 and 2020, Samir A. raised more than 100,000 dollars in the Dutch jihad scene and among families of Dutch women who had joined the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. That money went through underground banking to 25 women in Syrian detention camps. They used it for food and drink. Another part of the money went to smugglers who helped several women escape. “We must not close our eyes: without financing, no terrorism,” the Public Prosecution Service stated in the Rotterdam court this morning. Justice also believes that A. was part of IS because of the support he gave.
For almost 20 years, Samir A. (36 years old, born in Amsterdam, but now Rotterdammer) has been one of the best-known names in the Dutch jihad scene. When he was 17 years old, he tried to come to Chechnya to join jihadist militias. In 2004 he appears as a member of the Hofstad group, a group of young Muslims including Mohammed B., the murderer of Theo van Gogh. And in 2008 Samir was sentenced to nine years in prison for preparing an attack in the Netherlands. He was released in 2013. He then returned to the Dutch jihadist scene.
Prison Break
The case of 2022 is about something completely different. From the Netherlands, A. wanted to help the Dutch women and children who were detained in Kurdish detention camps in Syria. Those women had traveled to Syria years earlier to join jihadist groups such as IS. After the caliphate of that terrorist group fell, the women ended up in prison camps. Samir collected money from their relatives in the Netherlands and ensured that that money (over 100,000 dollars in total) reached the women through underground banking. Some used it for food and clothing. For others, Samir paid the money to smugglers who helped the women escape. A. called it ‘Prison Break project’ (after the hit series on Netflix of the same name). A. was arrested in June 2020 and spent a year in pre-trial detention. “According to the probation service, Samir’s pursuit of martyrdom that he knew in the past has only now taken on a different shape. We think that’s right,” said the Public Prosecution Service. “As soon as his previous prison sentence had expired, he started new offences.”
Some women now roam free. We know of some of them that they still supported IS on social media after their escape.
The Public Prosecution Service sees A.’s actions as terrorist financing: it concerns women who had joined the terrorist group IS. The list of women who received money from Samir includes women who have since returned to the Netherlands and have been sentenced to years of imprisonment. Other women escaped the camps and are likely now in the Syrian region of Idlib, where jihadist groups still rule. “They roam free. We know of some of them that they still supported IS on social media after their escape,” the Public Prosecution Service said in court this morning.
A. also helped the Dutch Ojone I. escape from a detention camp, it is known that her husband kept a Yazidi woman as a slave in Syria. Ojone would now reside in Turkey. The Public Prosecution Service: “A. only helped IS women, he did not choose to help the Yazidi women, who are in refugee camps in the same region.”
‘Humanitarian hop’
Samir A. frankly acknowledges what he has done (the criminal case against him started after he told about it in various media), but sees raising money as ‘humanitarian aid’. The situation in the camps was appalling and the women were there with small children. Helping cannot be punishable, he says. Parents burst out crying with relief when Samir told them that their daughters had escaped the camp after his help. A. also helped the wives of two Dutch IS fighters who had been friends of his for years: Jermaine Walters and Thijs Belmonte. Those two men died in Syria. A. did not mind talking about it on TV in the documentary ‘Public enemy No.1.‘ from BNNVara.
Ghost Bills
Part of the sentence from the Public Prosecution Service is a by-catch for the suspicion of forgery. On tapped telephone conversations of Samir A., who worked as a freelance bookkeeper after his previous prison sentence, there was talk of preparing ‘ghost invoices’ for a company.
The case continues this afternoon with the plea of Samir A’s lawyer. The court’s verdict is on August 30.
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