In the Netherlands, the Public Prosecution Service has announced that it's seeking a four-year prison sentence for a man from Doetinchem, near the German border. The suspect stands accused of planning an explosives' attack against a local asylum reception center last year.
Prosecutors said the suspect had allegedly prepared an attack involving an explosive device targeting a planned asylum reception centre in Doetinchem.
Court documents show that the plan, which was foiled in December last year, is being treated as a act with a terrorist motive.
At the time of the planned attack, there were no migrants housed at the facility, according to reports on the Dutch news platform NLTimes.
It is believed that the man's plan was to damage the property before it could be inaugurated as a migrant facility — with a view of coercing local authorities into halting the project.
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"The use of potential violence with a powerful explosion, as in this case, is completely incompatible … and is unacceptable," prosecutors said at the beginning of court proceedings.
"If there are objections or disagreements, these must be expressed and resolved through peaceful and democratic means,"they added.
The case followed months of protests in Doetinchem, where demonstrators opposed plans to establish the asylum reception centre.
Despite the opposition, the facility opened in the summer of 2026, nearly a year after protests began in the town and other parts of the Netherlands.
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Explosive device found in suspect’s garage
The investigation began after a domestic dispute last December, when police responded to an incident at the home of the suspect’s former partner.
The suspect was apprehended at a friend’s residence after fleeing the scene. Authorities considered him a flight risk and ordered him held in pretrial detention after his arrest.
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During questioning, the suspect’s ex-partner informed police that the man had been offered money to place industrial-grade fireworks, known as cobras, at the site of a planned asylum reception facility.
Later, authorities recovered an improvised explosive device inside a garage associated with the suspect; a special explosive disposal service run by the Dutch military had to be deployed to the site to help dismantle the device.
The final verdict and sentencing in the case are expected in the coming weeks.
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