Netherlands: Islamic State suspect who needed AK-47 “for the Gay Pride parade” cleared of terrorism charges – EU Today

A 32-year-old man from Amsterdam has been sentenced to five months in jail to be followed by compulsory psychiatric treatment for making threats against gay people, Jews and the police on social media but was found not guilty of planning a terrorist attack, DutchNews.NL reports.

The prosecution had said the man, identified as Tahsin E, was planning to carry out a terrorist attack on last summer’s Gay Pride boat parade, and had undergone ‘terrorism training’.

However, judges ruled they were not convinced the man actually had terrorist intent or that he had taken part in a training exercise.

Police were alerted to his plans by the Dutch security service AIVD and the FBI last year and he was arrested on August 7th. A search of his home in Amsterdam turned up several telephones, and a quantity of hydrogen peroxide, often used in the simplest of bombs.

The phones contained photos and videos featuring weapons and Islamic State propaganda.

The man had asked on Twitter if anyone had a Kalashnikov rifle for sale, as he ‘needed it for the Gay Pride parade.’ Behavioural experts said the man has autism and is not fully responsible for his actions. He himself denied being radicalised and said the social media threats were simply meant to provoke, as an outlet for his frustrations.

Image: by Alf van Beem, via Wikipedia.

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