‘State promised Hirsi Ali protection’

The Dutch government agreed to remain responsible for the security of anti-Islam campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali after she moved to the US, the Telegraaf reports a witness as telling a Dutch judicial hearing on Wednesday.


Iris van den Berg, who worked for Hirsi Ali at the time, told the court she was present at a meeting in June 2006 where anti terrorism coordinator Tjibbe Joustra told the former MP that the state would continue paying for her bodyguards at home and abroad. No end date for this agreement was given, she says.
The cabinet decided in October 2007 that Hirsi Ali must pay for her security arrangements outside the Netherlands herself.
In December, Joustra and former finance minister Gerrit Zalm will give their version of events to the judicial hearing.
In the meantime, Hirsi Ali has reportedly managed to raise enough money to pay for her own security.

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