Terror suspects Raoul A. and Nasser A.
PARAMARIBO--The two Dutch terror suspects who were arrested in Paramaribo last year, have recruited at least two people from Suriname who travelled to Syria to join terror group ISIS, it has been revealed. The two men, The Hague born brothers Raoul A. (35) and Nasser A. (31), have also actively recruited people in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The brothers, who relocated to their parents’ native Suriname a few years back to start a halal butchery shop in southern Paramaribo, were arrested on July 23, 2017, but they have consistently denied the terrorism charges that are being laid against them.
At the second hearing in their trial on Tuesday though, authorities produced chat messages that showed that mainly Raoul A. was maintaining tight relationships with key people within ISIS. The 36-year-old Muslim man was characterised as the brains behind the Islamic States’ branch in Suriname. He had apparently also been the driving force behind walled-off online chatrooms where radicalised youth meet virtually.
Police said that he has hinted that he has ambitions to be an ISIS fighter. Both brothers were reportedly also planning to relocate to Syria with their families, but they were arrested before they could execute these plans.
“I have been preparing to relocate to Syria for over a year, but I have a mortgage that I am paying off. [But – Ed.] I am prepared for no matter what. They will never catch me,” Raoul reportedly wrote in a text message.
The police documents that were produced in court named one Fiona S. as one of the brothers’ recruits. The young woman had actually left Suriname for Syria, but she was held at the border with Turkey and sent back to Suriname.
A plea by Nasser’s attorney to release him – because he supposedly had little involvement in his brother’s terrorism activities – fell on deaf ears in the court. The Prosecutor’s Office argued that the brothers both have Dutch nationality, which would make Nasser a flight risk, would he be released.
The brothers’ July 23, 2017, arrests in Suriname had caused quite some commotion in the country, with people in disbelief that terrorism was that close to home. Police had also arrested the daughter of former Jungle Commando leader and current Parliamentarian Ronnie Brunswijk, who is the girlfriend of one of the brothers. She was released soon after, because according to police said she had nothing to do with the case.
