15-year-old girl suspected of terrorism released from jail again

lawyer court justiceA 15-year-old girl who is suspected of involvement in terrorism should be remanded in custody, the public prosecution department said on Saturday.

The teenager from Sittard, Limburg, was arrested on Friday for breaking the terms of an earlier release, but freed a few hours later because she is a minor, RTL news reported.

The public prosecution department suspects the girl of being a member of a criminal organisation which is plotting terrorist attacks. She was first picked up in early September and released two weeks later on condition she did not contact a number of people. The department says she has broken this clause.

It is not clear what the girl is actually suspected of. The public prosecution department said in September she was not involved in a ‘specific attack’, but would not disclose if she had plans to go to Syria or Iraq. Nor would they say if other people had been arrested in connection with the case.

The Telegraaf, quoting ‘well-informed sources’, said then the girl is of Somali origin and had lived in Sittard for some time with her mother and brother.

The public prosecutor is planning to appeal against the girl’s release. ‘Even though she is a minor, we are talking about very serious offences,’ the department said in a statement.

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