ROTTERDAM (Netherlands) May 12: The trial of 12 suspected Muslim militants charged under a rarely used law with helping Osama bin Laden’s network wage “holy war” opened here on Monday with the defence arguing that they should be tried in a military court.

The men are accused of “aiding the enemy of the Dutch state and her allies in a time of armed conflict,” a charge last used in the Netherlands in the aftermath of World War II which carries a possible life sentence.

Lawyers for the defendants, most of whom are of North African or Middle Eastern origin, argued that the Rotterdam court was not competent to hear the case and said it should be moved to a military court, a move legal experts dismissed as a stalling tactic.

Prosecutors say some of the suspects actively recruited and trained men to wage jihad or holy war against non-Muslims at a time when the Netherlands was “at war” with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Al Qaeda network after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

In particular, they are accused of involvement in recruiting two Dutch nationals of Moroccan origin who were killed in clashes with Indian border police in Kashmir in January last year.

However, the De Volkskrant newspaper said experts in international law called to testify in the case have drawn up reports concluding the Netherlands was not clearly at war at the time.

The suspects are are also accused of forgery, receiving stolen goods, trafficking human beings and drugs and illegally possessing weapons.

Dutch authorities have asked for the extradition of a 13th suspect in the case, currently detained in France.

Prosecutors also suffered a setback in Monday’s proceedings when the deputy director of Dutch intelligence services AIVD, named as T. Bot, said that a code of secrecy prevented him from informing the court how information about the suspects was obtained.

An earlier trial of suspected Islamic militants collapsed in December after a Netherlands court acquitted four men charged with plotting to bomb US targets in Europe.

The court ruled then that key pieces of evidence were obtained illegally, saying that police had no legal grounds to detain suspects or raid their homes because they acted solely on information from the AIVD.

The defence in the case before the Rotterdam court is also expected to push for an aquittal based on the previous ruling.

Expert witnesses called on the first day did not seem to be able to help the prosecution’s case. Two Islamic studies experts could not agree if documents found at the homes of the suspects called on Muslims to wage an armed holy war or simply referred to the personal spiritual struggles of Muslims sometimes also referred to as jihad.

The Netherlands has some 845,000 Muslim citizens out of a total population of 16 million.

The case is scheduled to last until May 22 and the verdict expected June 5.—AFP