The Netherlands: A Dutch court acquitted 12 men yesterday accused of plotting a "holy war" against the West and helping to recruit al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
The Rotterdam district court said there was no evidence to convict the men on charges of belonging to an unspecified criminal group that provided support to al-Qaeda and the Taliban in their fight against US-led forces in Afghanistan.
The prosecution's case was damaged during the trial when judges ruled evidence provided by the Dutch secret service inadmissible. The court issued a rebuke to prosecutors, accusing them of mistakes and carelessness.
"The verdict is disappointing. We thought we had a good criminal case. We are studying the ruling," the Rotterdam public prosecutor's office said, after announcing it planned to appeal within weeks.
The four Algerians, a Frenchman, a Moroccan, a Libyan, an Iraqi, an Egyptian, a Turk, a Mauritanian and a Dutch citizen were arrested last year in raids across the Netherlands after their telephones were tapped. Police seized videos and books from their homes.
The men - who faced sentences of up to three years in jail - were jubilant after the verdict, smiling and waving at friends in the packed public gallery. One of the men shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). It was the second big case lost by Dutch public prosecutors pursuing al Qaeda-linked charges in the past six months. - (Reuters)