Twelve Somalis suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in the Netherlands were arrested on Friday. Five of them were released on Sunday. Now the lawyer of two of the freed men is calling for a probe into the national intelligence and security service, the AIVD.

The information that prompted the AIVD to have the 12 Somalis arrested cannot be divulged but is solid, claims Chief Public Prosecutor Gerrit van der Burg.

“The arrests were ordered on the basis of an AIVD report warning that a number of Somalis could be involved in plotting a terrorist attack here in the Netherlands.”

The detainees were thought to include Muslim extremists planning to carry out an attack during the Christmas period. They were arrested by a special police unit, some of them in Rotterdam in Somali-run telephone shops where long-distance calls can also be made.

Set in motion
Two of the five Somalis released on Sunday have since engaged a lawyer, saying they were victims of wrongful arrest. The lawyer, Michael Ruperti, has said:

“It is, in itself, understandable that the public prosecutor should act on a report from the AIVD. That is standard procedure. It is also standard procedure for the national police force to order special anti-terrorist units to arrest the people concerned. All of this, however, is set in motion by a report from the AIVD. My clients, who have now been freed, want an inquiry into the procedures followed by the AIVD.”

Serious trouble
The threat must have been quite serious, says Beatrice de Graaf, professor at Leiden University’s Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism. Though usually, she points out, the national public prosecutor’s office itself determines whether immediate action should be taken. In doing this, it may consult other sources and order further investigation. This means the decision to arrest the Somalis was not taken by the AIVD itself, as Beatrice de Graaf explains:

“The AIVD’s brief is to improve national security, not to furnish evidence to ensure a conviction. One might argue that the AIVD could have investigated a bit longer. Given the times, however, they’d be in serious trouble if something had happened.”

The lawyer’s two clients are, nonetheless, calling for a probe into the AIVD. They are also considering filing claims for damages. Mr Ruperti says:

“There is a committee which monitors the AIVD and has access to all the service’s intelligence. My clients want the committee to find out whether the AIVD did a good job in gathering its intelligence. In the Netherlands, needless to say, people only become suspects when there is a suspicion they are involved in something. My clients want to be compensated for the damage they have suffered. They have suffered wrongful arrest.”

Examining judge
The seven Somalis still in detention are to appear before an examining judge today. It is up to this judge

to decide whether they should remain in custody as ‘formal’ suspects in the case. Of the five who were released on Sunday without being charged with any kind of terrorist-related activity, three remain in detention on suspicion of not having valid residence permits.

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Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide

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