December 31, 2021
A court in the Netherlands has convicted an Iranian refugee of plotting terror attacks in his homeland targeting the Iranian government and its supporters. The 42-year-old ethnic Arab was sentenced to four years.
The man, whose name was not released in line with Dutch privacy rules, was linked to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, a separatist group in the Arab region of Khuzestan province.
The man, who is from Ahwaz, was tried in Rotterdam District Court because he has lived in the Netherlands since being granted residency as a refugee.
The court said in a statement October 27 that the defendant was in contact with separatists who planned and carried out attacks in Iran, including torching banks, but also targeting people linked to the Iranian government. He discussed possible targets, offered financial support and urged separatists to make video recordings of attacks, the written judgment said.
Through his actions, “the suspect played an important role in a criminal and terrorist organization whose goal was to support attacks in Iran,” the court said.
Prosecutors sought a six-year prison sentence, but judges said they gave a lower sentence because of the man’s personal history, which he said included being imprisoned and tortured in Iran.