Alleged Islamic State fighter faces Dutch war crimes charges | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 18, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2025
Alleged Islamic State fighter faces Dutch war crimes charges

World+Biz

Reuters
08 July, 2019, 09:40 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2019, 09:49 pm

Related News

  • Two arrested in Bangladesh for alleged links to Pakistan-based militant group TTP
  • Two KNA operatives killed in Bandarban army operation; firearms recovered
  • Heavy-lift vessel docks for first time at Mongla Port
  • Chinese spying on Dutch industries 'intensifying': Dutch defence minister
  • Russia-backed group hacked into networks of police and NATO: Dutch authorities

Alleged Islamic State fighter faces Dutch war crimes charges

It is the first trial in the Netherlands dealing with war crimes by an alleged Islamic State militant

Reuters
08 July, 2019, 09:40 pm
Last modified: 08 July, 2019, 09:49 pm
Dutch Judges Rose Perquin, Mariette Renckens (presiding) and Jantien Holleman and clerks Ekkart (first name unavailable) and Milica Sepmeijer sit in the courtroom prior the Netherlands' first war crimes trial for alleged atrocities in Syria committed by two Dutch nationals who fought with ISIS, in the courthouse in Schiphol, Netherlands July 8, 2019. REUTERS
Dutch Judges Rose Perquin, Mariette Renckens (presiding) and Jantien Holleman and clerks Ekkart (first name unavailable) and Milica Sepmeijer sit in the courtroom prior the Netherlands' first war crimes trial for alleged atrocities in Syria committed by two Dutch nationals who fought with ISIS, in the courthouse in Schiphol, Netherlands July 8, 2019. REUTERS

An alleged Dutch-born Islamic State militant went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday for war crimes in Iraq and Syria, including breaches of the Geneva Conventions, after posing with a crucified body and sharing images of dead victims online.

It is the first trial in the Netherlands dealing with war crimes by an alleged Islamic State militant.

There is no international tribunal to prosecute widespread atrocities during Syria’s civil war which began on 2011, but prosecutors in several European countries have put on trial nationals who joined militant groups in the Middle East.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

According to European police agency Europol, some 5,000 Europeans went to fight in Syria and Iraq, of whom some 1,500 have returned. Roughly 300 Dutch nationals joined the armed fight in Iraq and Syria, prosecutors said.

Oussama Achraf Akhlafa, 24, faces allegations of violating international law, after allegedly joining IS militants in Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria, between 2014 and 2016.

He is being tried under so-called universal jurisdiction, which enables war crimes to be prosecuted regardless of where they were committed.

Akhlafa is charged with breaking international law on the rules of armed conflict by violating the personal dignity of war victims, as well as membership in a terrorist organization.

Prosecutors said Akhlafa posed next to the crucified body of a man on a wooden cross and distributed pictures of an IS militant holding the head of a dead Kurdish fighter and the body of a dead woman with a foot on her.

A list of Islamic State fighters on payroll recovered in Mosul names Akhlafa as one of 18 Dutch nationals, said prosecutor Nicole Vogelenzang.

“According to the list Akhlafa was a fighter in Mosul for three months in the IS sniper brigade,” she said. The personal information is so “detailed that is could not be about anyone other than Akhlafa.”

“He was there and knew Islamic Sate was a terrorist group,” she said. “He ...even volunteered to carry out suicide attacks.”

In a statement, Akhlafa said he joined IS after becoming homeless in the Netherlands, but never hurt anyone.

“If I didn’t get in the photo I would be seen as disloyal” by IS, he told the court. “I posed in the photo. I take all responsibility for that. I am sorry and it was not my intent to humiliate this man.”

SNIPER

“I understand it creates an image, but madame, I didn’t kill anyone ... IS wouldn’t even give me a weapon.”

The judge read out witness testimony and quotes from online chats with the defendant in which he bragged about killings and said he was a sniper. “Sniping is the funnest thing there is, but it is highly dangerous,” the judge quoted him as writing.

The defendant said his remark was intended to impress women.

A second defendant, 24-year-old Reda Nidalha, also went on trial on Monday, accused of membership in a terrorist organization and recruiting radical jihadists via Facebook.

Dutch-born Nidalha, who sat in a black t-shirt, which a shaved head and thick beard, was questioned by judges for hours at the opening of hearings on Monday.

He denied allegations of recruiting, saying he had been joking when he chatted on Facebook about friends joining him in Raqqa, the self-declared capital of Islamic State’s “caliphate”.

“In 2014, I went to Syria to help people, women and children,” he told a panel of judges. “I didn’t join to fight. I provided basic medical assistance.”

Nidalha denied accusations of trying to recruit four people for Islamic State, saying the Facebook chats were “not serious.”

Islamic State / militant / Netherlands / Dutch

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Around 99% of the cotton used in Bangladesh’s export and domestic garment production is imported. Photo: Collected
    NBR withdraws advance tax on imports of cotton, man-made fibres
  • Governments often rely on foreign loans. Russia’s loans covered 90% of the Rooppur Nuclear Power plant project's cost. Photo: Collected
    Loan tenure for Rooppur plant extended 
  • Chattogram-based Western Marine Shipyard Ltd has exported two tugboats—Ghaya and Khalid—to UAE-based Marwan Shipping Ltd, earning $1.6 million. The vessels were officially handed over at the Chittagong Boat Club on 17 July. Photo: Courtesy
    Refined sugar imports double in FY25 as duty cuts bite local refiners

MOST VIEWED

  • Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
    Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
  • Representational image. File Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Malaysia grants Bangladeshi workers multiple-entry visas
  • The Chattogram Custom House building in Chattogram. File Photo: Collected
    Software slowdown disrupts customs operations nationwide
  • NCP leaders are seen getting on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the army to leave Gopalganj following attacks on their convoy after the party's rally in the district today (16 july). Photo: Focus Bangla
    NCP leaders leave Gopalganj in army's APC following attack on convoy, clashes between AL, police
  • Renata’s manufacturing standards win european recognition
    Renata’s manufacturing standards win european recognition
  • The supporters of local Awami League and Chhatra League locked in a clash with police following attacks on NCP convoy this afternoon (16 July). Photo: Collected
    Gopalganj under curfew; 4 killed as banned AL, police clash after attack on NCP leaders

Related News

  • Two arrested in Bangladesh for alleged links to Pakistan-based militant group TTP
  • Two KNA operatives killed in Bandarban army operation; firearms recovered
  • Heavy-lift vessel docks for first time at Mongla Port
  • Chinese spying on Dutch industries 'intensifying': Dutch defence minister
  • Russia-backed group hacked into networks of police and NATO: Dutch authorities

Features

Illustration: TBS

20 years of war, 7.5m tonnes of bombs, 1.3m dead: How the US razed Vietnam to the ground

8h | The Big Picture
On 17 July 2024, Dhaka University campus became a warzone with police firing tear shells and rubber bullets to control the student movement. File Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS

17 July 2024: Students oust Chhatra League from campuses, Hasina promises 'justice' after deadly crackdown

16h | Panorama
Abu Sayeed spread his hands as police fired rubber bullets, leading to his tragic death. Photos: Collected

How Abu Sayed’s wings of freedom ignited the fire of July uprising

2d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Open source legal advice: How Facebook groups are empowering victims of land disputes

3d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Why the conflicting claims over Gopalganj autopsies?

Why the conflicting claims over Gopalganj autopsies?

9h | TBS Stories
Gopalganj violence in international media

Gopalganj violence in international media

10h | TBS World
The Philippines has become a laboratory for China's disinformation propaganda

The Philippines has become a laboratory for China's disinformation propaganda

10h | TBS World
Gopalganj clash: Army urges not to be misled by rumors

Gopalganj clash: Army urges not to be misled by rumors

12h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net