Court attack still a mystery (update)

Tuesday 03 April 2007

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is to investigate whether the Netherlands needs a new high-security court following Monday’s grenade attack on the Amsterdam Osdorp complex just hours before the trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder was due to start.

The attack was ‘extremely serious’, the minister said, adding that he wanted to determine whether the Osdorp building, which is where terrorism cases are heard, was still suitable for trials which demand very high levels of security.

So far, police say, they have no clue who was behind the attack. The hearings resumed in Osdorp today, under high profile police surveillance.

The attack featured in all the main papers, with much speculation about the reasons behind it. The Telegraaf, for example, called the launching to two grenades at the rear of the building a ‘mafia attack’ and a ‘warning to witnesses’.

Meanwhile, the Financieele Dagblad reports that Holleeder and his gang are suspected of netting €21m and a number of properties through their blackmail efforts.

The papers nearly all carried front page photos of the two female defendants on their way to court. The duo, including Holleeder’s ex-girlfriend, are both charged with being gang members and money laundering.

© DutchNews.nl

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