The Dutch prosecutor’s office requested eight months in prison this Thursday against a man accused of beating Israeli supporters and speaking of a “hunt for Jews” during a night of violence in November in Amsterdam described as anti-Semitic by many Western governments.
Umutcan A., 24 years old and originally from The Hague, is accused of having beaten several supporters and of having violently snatched a Maccabi Tel Aviv scarf from an individual. The man is among seven suspects, aged between 19 and 32, who appeared in court in Amsterdam on Wednesday and Thursday.
On the night of November 7 to 8, supporters of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv were chased and beaten in the streets of Amsterdam, on the sidelines of a football match against the local team, Ajax. Five people were briefly hospitalized.
Umutcan A. was also recognized as the author of a WhatsApp message referring to a “hunt for Jews”. “I don’t hate Jews at all, I can’t tell you why I said that,” said the accused, who went to the police on his own initiative and expressed his regrets to the judges. , according to local media AT5.
Prosecutors said in relation to the accused that the violence stemmed from discontent with the war in Gaza and the actions of Israeli fans the night before the match.
Videos of Maccabi supporters chanting anti-Arab chants
Umutcan A. provided videos, shown during the hearing, of Maccabi supporters chanting anti-Arab chants and calling for victory for the Israeli army. According to police, tensions were high before the match. Israeli supporters also vandalized a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag.
A month in prison was requested against another suspect, accused of complicity in acts of violence for having shared the location of Israeli supporters in online chat groups.
The Amsterdam court, which is due to deliver its judgment on December 24, on Wednesday requested sentences ranging from six months to two years in prison for three other suspects.
The appearance of another suspect, from the Gaza Strip, was postponed to an undisclosed date so that he could undergo a psychological evaluation, the prosecution said. The 22-year-old man is on trial for attempted manslaughter, the most serious charge in these cases.
