Dutch court convicts Iranian refugee on terror charges

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A court in the Netherlands convicts an Iranian refugee of preparing and financing terror attacks in his homeland targeting the Iranian government and its supporters. The 42-year-old man is sentenced to four years imprisonment.

The man, whose identity is not released in line with Dutch privacy rules, is linked to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, a separatist group in the oil-rich Ahwaz region of southern Iran.

The man is from Ahwaz, but he was tried in Rotterdam District Court because he has lived in the Netherlands since being granted residency as a refugee.

The court says in a statement that the defendant was in contact with separatists who planned and carried out attacks in Iran, including torching banks, but also targeting people linked to the Iranian government. He discussed possible targets, offered financial support and urged separatists to make video recordings of attacks, the written judgment says.

Through his actions, “the suspect played an important role in a criminal and terrorist organization whose goal was to support attacks in Iran,” the court says.

Prosecutors sought a six-year prison sentence, but judges say they gave a lower sentence because of the man’s personal history, which he said included being imprisoned and tortured in Iran.