(NL Times) The first day of trials against a group of five suspects accused of violence in Amsterdam around the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv football match on November 7 began on Wednesday, largely with claims of innocence. Several of the suspects faced allegations that the attacks on Israeli football supporters were anti-Semitic in nature due to their participation in social media groups where the suspects frequently used slurs and calls to violence leveled at Jews. These suspects said that they were not referring to all Jews, but only those who supported Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Israeli people they blame for current conflicts in the Middle East.
“The anger about the situation in Gaza can be expressed legally,” the prosecutor told the District Court of Amsterdam. The trials against three of the five were completed on Wednesday, and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) has demanded up to two years in prison against one of them, and six months in prison against the other two. The men are charged with public violence and several other offenses, with hate crime provisions cited as an aggravating factor. Verdicts are expected on December 24.
