Four men receive months-long sentences for Amsterdam attack against Israeli football fans

Four men were sentenced to prison time on Wednesday for their involvement in violence targeting Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last November, The court’s ruling follows a lengthy investigation into the violence, that occurred around an Ajax–Maccabi Tel Aviv football match on November 7. The violence, which was referred to by some as a ‘pogrom’, saw anti-Israel groups attack Maccabi supporters after Israeli fans were accused of tearing down Palestinian flags. The four men were sentenced on Wednesday, after appearing before the court in early March. They were among 122 suspects being investigated for their roles in the violence, which included both locals and a few Israelis. The court found that the men played significant parts in organising and inciting violence, using online platforms to coordinate the attacks. A 27-year-old man from Amsterdam received the longest sentence, three months in prison, for his role in the Buurthuis2 WhatsApp group, where he shared information that helped organise attacks on Israeli Maccabi supporters. Among the 966 participants of the chat, he shared tips on disguising oneself and coordinated times and locations to gather against "those Jews." The prosecution stated he aimed to "contribute to the hunt for Maccabi supporters," and the court found he had "deliberately contributed to the increase of possible violence against Maccabi supporters and Jews." A 32-year-old man, one of the administrators of the WhatsApp group, was sentenced to six weeks in prison for sharing messages that encouraged violence. A 22-year-old was sentenced to one month in prison for sharing the locations of Maccabi fans and police vehicles, urging others to target them. Another man, who chased a Maccabi supporter with a belt before another attacker kicked the victim, received a 30-day sentence, with 19 days of it conditional. In a separate ruling, a 24-year-old man from the suburb of Zaandam was sentenced to a week in prison for throwing stones and a traffic cone at police officers during the riots. He was also given 120 hours of community service and banned from attending Ajax matches for a year. These convictions follow five earlier sentences handed down in December for similar offences related to the violence. A 32-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison for kicking a victim into a moving tram, while a 26-year-old Utrecht man was sentenced to ten weeks for his role in aiding the violence through the WhatsApp group.

Topics: