Nouredine el Fahtni (also Noreddine el Fahtni; born 15 August 1982), is a Moroccan who is a suspected member of the Islamic terrorist organisation Hofstad Network,Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. (16/11/2004) Islamic terrorists 'plotted attack at finals of Euro 2004' The Telegraph. Accessed 13 December 2007. a Dutch organisation agitating for jihad against parliamentary democracy and the foundation of an Islamic state.
El Fahtni was arrested in Portugal in the summer of 2004, during the European Football Championship, on suspicion of planning an attack on then Portuguese prime minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, but was released for insufficient evidence.Fox News. (November 15, 2004) Dutch Islamists suspected in Portugal plot FoxNews.com. Accessed 13 December 2007.
In 2005, El Fahtni and his wife Soumaya Sahla were arrested in the Netherlands for possessing a loaded machine gun, for which Sahla received a nine-month sentence and El Fahtni five years.Dutch News. (16 October 2006) Heavy security as new terrorism trial starts DutchNews.nl. Accessed 13 December 2007. Prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence for El Fahtni's suspected involvement in the "Piranha terrorism plot" against politicians and the Dutch Secret Service, AIVD.Dutch News. (6 November 2006). Prosecution winds up in Piranha court case. dutchnews.nl. Accessed 13 December 2007. On 1 December 2006, he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, while co-conspirators Mohammed Chentouf also received four years and Samir Azzouz eight years.
Further reading Van Gogh killer begins presenting own defense in new terrorism case Asharq Alawsat Rechtbank heeft uitspraak gedaan in zaken verdachten Hofstadgroep (Dutch). de Rechtspraak.
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