Posted on 07/12/2005 1:52:08 PM PDT by photovoltaic
The man accused of killing Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh confessed to a Dutch court that he acted out of his religious beliefs, saying he would do "exactly the same" if he were ever set free.
"I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion," 27-year-old Dutch-Moroccan national Mohammed Bouyeri told the court in Amsterdam on the final day of his trial.
Prosecutor Frits van Straelen demanded a life sentence for Bouyeri for killing Van Gogh on an Amsterdam street on November 2, 2004. He recalled the particular brutality of the murder in broad daylight saying Bouyeri not only shot Van Gogh 15 times but also stabbed him and finally slit his throat.
According to the prosecutor the murder of Van Gogh, an outspoken columnist who often criticised Islam and the multi-cultural society, deeply shocked Dutch society.
The killing -- which happened in plain view of more than 50 witnesses while the filmmaker was cycling to work -- stoked ethnic tensions and sparked a wave of reprisal attacks primarily directed at the Muslim community here.
In addition to a life sentence, the prosecution also demanded that Bouyeri be stripped of his right to vote or stand for election for the rest of his life, "to literally place him outside of our democracy".
After the prosecution's closing statement Bouyeri, who had refused to say anything about his motives during the trial, took the opportunity to make a final statement.
"I can assure you that one day, should I be set free, I would do exactly the same, exactly the same," he said, speaking slowly in sometimes halted Dutch.
He said he felt an obligation to Van Gogh's mother Anneke, present in court, to speak, but offered no sympathy.
"I have to admit I do not feel for you, I do not feel your pain, I cannot -- I don't know what it is like to lose a child," he said as Van Gogh's family and friends looked on.
"I cannot feel for you ... because I believe you are an infidel," he added.
"I acted out of conviction -- not because I hated your son."
Van Gogh's mother listened quietly as Bouyeri, wearing a Palestinian black and white headscarf, spoke with a hint of admiration for her son.
"I cannot accuse your son of hypocrisy because he was not a hypocrite. He said things out of conviction," Bouyeri said of Van Gogh.
Bouyeri told the prosecutor that he concurred with the charges against him and the demand for a life sentence -- a sentence which holds no possibility of parole in the Netherlands.
Several months before he was killed Van Gogh, a distant relative of 19th-century painter Vincent van Gogh, had directed a short film called "Submission", which linked abuse of women to Islam.
A letter was left on his body that included quotations from the Koran and threats to several Dutch politicians, including Somali-born lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote the script for "Submission".
Bouyeri was arrested after a shoot-out with the police as he attempted to flee the murder scene.
He is charged with the premeditated murder of Van Gogh, the attempted murder of several police officers and bystanders, illegal possession of firearms, obstructing the work of Hirsi Ali as a member of parliament and threatening her with a terrorist act.
Hirsi Ali spent two months in hiding after the murder and is now under 24-hour protection.
Even though prosecutors have said that Bouyeri was "a leading figure" in a terrorist organization known as the Hofstad group, he has not yet been charged in that connection because of lack of evidence, Van Straelen said.
The Amsterdam court will hand down a verdict in the case on July 26, the three-judge panel said after the trial ended here Tuesday.
This is my first post in a long while. I did a search for this article but nothing came up. It is linked over at Drudge. Seemed pretty chilling to me.
JC
That's why they are sub-human.
Yet the Left still persists in denying that it is Islam itself which is the problem, even in the face of yet another explicit confession that yes, it is in fact Islam that is the root cause of terrorism.
No half measures when the Religion of Peace avenges the slight to Allah related to women's rights. Ireland watch your words.
No half measures when the Religion of Peace avenges the slight to Allah related to women's rights. Ireland watch your words.
Shocking but at least he's being open about.
It figures.
Even the fanatics have more appreciation for those of us willing to fight for our way, even though they consider it infidel. When the West tries to appease, that is actually what makes them hate us more.
Absolutely, sub-human. Absolutely, Islam is NOT a religion of peace. Mail this to George W., please.
I can't wait to see some commentary on this case. The words are those of the killer. No spin, no BS. The guy just looked at mom and said sorry, Muslim here, bygones!
Hey, I thought he did it because we were in Iraq. NOT!
Fine. String him up. Tear his guts out and leave them for the crows.
Regards, Ivan
islam IS HATE!
Possibly the grand plan of the Islamistsis is the actual occupation of the rest of the world and therefore they will refrain from large, permanently destructive attacks for NOW in their hope to create the collapse of infidal cultures by continuous small scale terrorism...Hell, you figure they'd rather live outside the sandbox,,, if we let them....
Which is precisely why you'll hear little or nothing about this trial from the MSM.
Sixty Minutes isn't going to do a piece on it.
The New York Times might grant a paragraph-or-so to the outcome and the sentence, but nary a word about Bouyeri's statement.
CNN might do the same...with a crawl.
The Guardian is likely to lodge a smoldering complaint concerning the heartlessness of a life sentence without possibility of parole.
But that's about it...
Ditto!
The Miami Herald has it now.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12113482.htm
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Muslim extremist on trial in the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh confessed Tuesday, saying he was driven by religious conviction. "I don't feel your pain," he told the victim's mother.
Mohammed Bouyeri stunned the courtroom when, in the final minutes of his two-day trial he declared: "If I were released and would have the chance to do it again ... I would do exactly the same thing."
"What moved me to do what I did was purely my faith. ... I was motivated by the law that commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his prophet," he said.
Bouyeri, 27, faces life imprisonment in the Nov. 2 killing of Van Gogh, who was shot, stabbed and nearly beheaded on an Amsterdam street. A verdict is to be handed down this month.
Bouyeri glanced at notes, paused between sentences and chose his words carefully. Some spectators rose to their feet as he spoke, visibly stunned by his comments.
At one point, he addressed the victim's mother, Anneke, who was sitting in the public gallery. "I have to admit I don't have any sympathy for you," he said. "I can't feel for you because I think you're a nonbeliever."
The killing is believed to have been an act of retribution for Van Gogh's film "Submission," which criticized the treatment of women under Islam.
The killer left a five-page note fixed to the filmmaker's body with a knife. Along with religious ramblings, the note threatened Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote the screenplay for Van Gogh's film, and others he perceived as enemies of fundamentalist Islam.
Lead prosecutor Frits van Straelen told the court Bouyeri would kill again unless he is locked up for life.
"The accused preaches a message of hate and violence," Van Straelen said. "He preaches that anyone who thinks differently can be killed ... He is and remains a danger to our society."
"The attacks in London last week make it clear that the problem of Islam-oriented terrorism continues, but I hope that the result from this case can help peace return," the prosecutor said.
The killing of Van Gogh, a distant relative of the painter Vincent van Gogh, led to a wave of retaliatory attacks on mosques in a country once renowned for its tolerance.
It also led to an intense national debate over the integration of Muslims, who make up 6 percent of the Netherlands' 16 million people.
Bouyeri was born in Amsterdam to Moroccan parents, and became increasingly radical in his beliefs in the two years leading up to the murder, according to prosecutors.
His statement in court Tuesday was his first public comment since he was arrested in a shootout with police after the slaying. Bouyeri had not mounted a defense during the trial and ordered his lawyer not to speak.
Bouyeri, allegedly a member of a terrorist cell known as the Hofstad Network, is said to have attended private prayer sessions with a Syrian spiritual leader, Redouan al-Issar, who disappeared shortly before the Van Gogh killing.
Twelve other suspected group members are awaiting trial on separate terrorism charges.
Bouyeri is also accused of threatening politicians, impeding democracy, illegal weapons possession and manslaughter for attacks on police and bystanders.
Bouyeri was arrested by police after a shootout while holding the gun prosecutors say was used in the murder. Prosecutors say he is also tied to the crime by witnesses, blood spatters, ballistic evidence, a photo and DNA analysis.
On Tuesday, Bouyeri addressed the police officers he is accused of firing on eight months ago, saying: "I shot to kill and to be killed. You cannot understand"
Van Straelen said Bouyeri must have had financial help, but there were no other suspects in the case.
"This shows how dangerous religious obsession is," Theodor Holman, who was a friend of Van Gogh's, said outside the courtroom. "All you have to do is insult Islam and (Bouyeri) feels it justifies brutally slaughtering you."
Some people think that Islam is a false religion.
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