MIM: The court ruling that the Dutch police must stop the surveillance of a potential terrorist is both irresponsible and dangerous coming after the news that it was a female Belgian convert married to a Muslim man carried out a suicide bombing in Baghdad. Her husband was also killed attempted to carry out a separate attack.
---------------------------------------------------------
Translation Beila Rabinowitz director of MIM:
Police may not 'disturb' Muslimah any longer
Amsterdam- The police in Amsterdam may not continue to follow and disturb a woman who has converted to Islam. This is the result of a lawsuit which she filed against the city of Amsterdam.
The judge ruled on Thursday hat the 'so called disturbance measures' were an invasion of the women's privacy.
According to the police the woman would radicalise. She is strictly religious, wears traditional Islamic garb, and refuses to shake hands with men.She also associates with members of the Hofstad group. This 'pattern' is a reason for concern. On the basis of these indicators the police received permission to 'disturb' the woman. This included the 'obstructive' following of the woman, surveillance of her street and observing her house.
"The strong Islamic conviction and only form a secondary situation and can in and of itself not be a reason for disturbance' according to the explanation of the verdict. The most important reasons to disturb the woman are no longer present and there are no concrete indicators that that will change in the foreseeable future.'
The police said they found cassette tapes in the home of the woman which called for people to wage Jihad. Because no formal report was made and the woman denies having the tapes.
A raid on the woman's house failed to turn up explosives. Above all it appears that the woman no longer has contact with a man who is tied to the Hofstadgroep, according to the verdict. "The judge called the disturbing of the woman out of proportion and unjust."
The counsel for the Muslimah, Mr. S. Jaasma, was happy with the verdict. "Disturbance is an invasion of someone's life and cannot be permitted just like that" The counsel hopes that his client and the neighborhood will now have some quiet.
---------------------------------------------------------
donderdag 1 december 2005 uur.