In Amsterdam (via AP):
An appeals court on Thursday increased the prison sentences of four Islamic radicals accused of plotting attacks on Dutch politicians, convicting them of the additional charge of membership in a terrorist organization...
Judges cited their adherence to a single violent belief system, their training with firearms, and their coordinated efforts to find the addresses of Dutch politicians on a hit-list, including the prime minister.
The court's judges added a year to the sentence of ringleader Samir Azzouz, 22, giving him a total of nine years in prison. Azzouz had videotaped a suicide testament.
Both defendants and prosecutors had appealed the original ruling. The defendants asked for acquittal and the prosecutors sought longer sentences, including 15 years for Azzouz.
Azzouz "has made it apparent that he despises Dutch society," judges said in a written ruling. "He has shown that he has no respect for those who have different views and knows no compassion for the potential victims of the acts he planned."
In Italy (via AP):
The Court of Cassation confirmed the conviction of Rabei Osman and upheld a previous eight-year jail sentence by a Milan appeals court, said lawyer Luca D'Auria...
Previous rulings found Osman had ties to the terror cell that carried out the bombings on the Madrid commuter rail system that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.
Spanish courts have also tried Osman. He was acquitted on mass murder charges for insufficient evidence, while judges ruled that because he had been sentenced in Italy for association with a terror group, he could not be condemned again for the same crime.
En France (via Reuters):
Safe Bourada, 38, the suspected leader of the group, has already served a 10-year sentence for his role in Islamist attacks in France in 1995...
Bourada has admitted setting up in 2003 an activist group called Ansar al Fath, or Partisans of Victory. He told prosecutors the organization was created to help finance the Iraqi insurgency and has denied planning attacks in France.
The prosecution say the group was in contact with al Qaeda's leadership in Iraq. Police say an informer told them the group was plotting to target Paris's Orly Airport and the metro network in the French capital.
