Four sentenced to prison for attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans

Four rioters received short prison terms for violence against soccer fans who had come to Amsterdam for a Europa League match between Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Sefa Ö, 32, was given the longest sentence by the Amsterdam District Court, six months in prison, while another man received 10 weeks and two men each received a month. The fifth defendant received a community service order under Dutch juvenile law.

The judge said prison terms for the four were appropriate given the seriousness of the actions and the context in which they took place.

Riots broke out in several areas of the Dutch capital in early November and drew international condemnation.

The five defendants sentenced Tuesday were the first to stand trial in the hit-and-run that broke out in the early morning hours of Nov. 8 after incidents that spanned two days.

The court said there was plenty of video evidence showing Maccabi fans facing extreme violence, and pointed to footage of supporters removing Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Arab slogans. Fans also vandalized taxis.

The presiding judge added that there was already unrest in the Netherlands due to the war in Gaza.

Although the court took into account the “context” of the events, it said that “there was no justification for calling for and using physical violence against Israeli supporters.”

Sefa Ö he was found to have karate-kicked one victim, causing him to fall onto a moving tram, and was also involved in several other attacks.

Videos emerged at the trial showing him kicking victims in Dam Square, Damrak and Zoutsteg, and prosecutors said he played a leading role in the violence, which had nothing to do with football.

Rashid OThe 26-year-old, who was jailed for 10 weeks, was found to have participated in a WhatsApp chat group called Buurthuis2 in which he referred to the victims as “cowardly” Jews who he would never have the opportunity to attack again.

More than 900 people were in the group and the court said the chat was used to transmit information with the aim of “committing violence against people of Jewish origin and/or supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv”.

Umutkan AIt was established that the 24-year-old, participating in the attack along with other men, kicked one of the victims several times and then kicked another fan to the ground. CCTV footage showed him assaulting several Maccabi fans and grabbing one fan by the throat and grabbing his football scarf.

He wrote in message groups about “Jew-hunting” but declared in court that he did not hate Jews.

Karanvir SThe 26-year-old already had an assault conviction in 2022 and the court noted that this did not stop him from taking part in last month’s attacks.

The youngest of five Lucas DThe 19-year-old was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and participating in a separate Snapchat group that called for violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

All five have two weeks to appeal.

The court stated that at the time of his arrest, he was in possession of an illegal high-explosive pyrotechnic device “Cobra”. The prosecutor’s office called Lucas D. get a prison term.

Earlier, chief prosecutor René de Bekeler dismissed suggestions that the attacks were terrorism because he said the group’s aim was not to instill fear in the people they targeted.

However, he said there had been instances of anti-Semitism in the messaging group.

“I understand very well that the Jewish community in Amsterdam was scared because of this violence, but that is different from saying that this was the target of the suspects,” he told Amsterdam’s AT5 television earlier this month.