Dutch court jails militant couple

Published March 26, 2008

AMSTERDAM, March 25: A Dutch court jailed a husband and wife for three years on Tuesday after they were convicted of plotting attacks in a militant Islamic network, ANP reported.

The pair, 26-year-old Hanan Sarrokh and her 30-year-old husband Lahbib Bachar, were part of the so-called “Hofstad group”, a band of young militants mainly of Moroccan origin based in The Hague. The group has drawn huge public attention after a series of arrests and reports of planned attacks.

Judges said they had taken into account the fact that the pair had testified against Samir Azzouz, the most high-profile Hofstad member who is serving a total of 12 years for planning attacks.

However, owing to the seriousness of the crimes, the sentence given the pair was higher than that sought by prosecutors, judges said.—Reuters

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