Mohammed Bouyeri ( ar, محمد بويري ; born 8 March 1978) is a Moroccan-Dutch convicted

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

serving a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...

without

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

in the prison of

Nieuw Vosseveld Nieuw Vosseveld is a prison in Vught, Netherlands, part of the Custodial Institutions Agency (Dutch: ''Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen'', DJI) of the Ministry of Justice and Security within the Dutch criminal justice system. ''Penitentiaire Inr ...

(

Vught Vught () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live in the municipality, and the town of Vught was once named "Best place to liv ...

) for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. A member of the Hofstad Network, he was incarcerated in 2004 and has since been serving a sentence of life with no possibility of parole.

Early life

Mohammed Bouyeri is a second-generation Moroccan-Dutchman of

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

origin. In 1995, Mohammed Bouyeri finished his

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

. At university, he changed his major several times and left after five years without obtaining a degree. Bouyeri used the pen name "Abu Zubair" for writing and translating. He often posted letters online and sent e-mails under this name. At an early age he was known to the police as a member of a group of Moroccan "problem-youth". For a while he worked as a volunteer at ''Eigenwijks'', a neighbourhood organization in Amsterdam's Slotervaart suburb. After his mother died and his father remarried in the fall of 2003, he started to live according to strict interpretations of Sunni Islamic

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

law. As a result, he could perform fewer and fewer tasks at Eigenwijks. For example, he refused to serve alcohol and did not want to be present at activities attended by both women and men. Finally, he put an end to his activities at Eigenwijks altogether. He grew a beard and began to wear a

djellaba The djellaba or jillaba (; Arabic: جلابة; Berber: ''aselham''), also written gallabea, is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. In central and eastern Algeria it is cal ...

. He frequently visited the

El Tawheed mosque The El Tawheed Mosque is a Sunni mosque in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The foundation that manages the mosque was founded in 1986. The mosque is on Jan Hanzenstraat in the Old-West section of Amsterdam. Aside from its normal function, the mosq ...

where he met other radical Sunnis, among whom was the suspected terrorist

Samir Azzouz Samir Azzouz (born 27 June 1986) is a Dutch national of Moroccan descent. He was incarcerated in Nieuw Vosseveld on suspicion of attempting to procure heavy firearms and planning terrorist attacks. He was also suspected to be closely related t ...

. With the group of radicals he is said to have formed the Hofstad Network, a Dutch

terrorist cell A clandestine cell system is a method for organizing a group of people (such as resistance fighters, sleeper agents, mobsters, or terrorists) such that such people can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization (such as l ...

Assassination of Theo van Gogh

Background

Filmmaker Theo van Gogh was a vigorous and often polemic critic of several aspects and figures of Dutch society, including religion. In 2004, van Gogh and

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politicia ...

, a

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

refugee who had become a member of the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives (, pronounced ; commonly referred to as the ', literally "Second Chamber of the States General") is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate ...

, directed a short film called '' Submission, Part I'' about Islam and

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often c ...

. In the film, women are shown wearing transparent clothes with verses of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

written on their bodies. The film first aired in August 2004 on

Dutch television Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1 ...

in prime time.

Assassination

The 26-year-old Bouyeri assassinated van Gogh in the early morning of 2 November 2004 in front of the

Amsterdam-Oost Amsterdam-Oost () is a borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands, established in May 2010 after a merger of the former boroughs of Zeeburg and Oost-Watergraafsmeer. In 2013, the borough had almost 123,000 inhabitants. History Amsterdam-Oost is the ...

borough office (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''stadsdeelkantoor'') while he was bicycling to work. Bouyeri shot van Gogh eight times with a handgun and also wounded two bystanders. Wounded, van Gogh ran to the other side of the road and fell to the ground on the cycle lane. Bouyeri then walked up to van Gogh, who was still lying down, and shot him several more times at close range. Bouyeri then cut van Gogh's throat and tried to decapitate him with a large knife, after which he stabbed the knife deep into van Gogh's chest, reaching his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

. He then attached a five-page note to the body with a smaller knife before fleeing. Van Gogh died on the spot. The written note contained a warning to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It also made mention of the Jewish political actors in Ali's party, as well as other parties in Dutch politics. It contained repeated references to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

party-backers and party leaders. The letter refers to the fundamentalist ideology of the

Takfir wal-Hijra ''Takfir wal-Hijra'' ( ar, تكفير والهجرة, translation: "Excommunication and Exodus", alternatively "excommunication and emigration" or "anathema and exile"), was the popular name given to a radical Islamist group ''Jama'at al-Muslim ...

. It was signed ''Saifu Deen alMuwahhied''.

Arrest

Following an exchange of gunfire with police, during which he was shot in the leg, police arrested Bouyeri close to the scene of the crime shortly after its commission. In his interrogations, he exercised his

right to remain silent The right to silence is a legal principle which guarantees any individual the right to refuse to answer questions from law enforcement officers or court officials. It is a legal right recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the worl ...

. On 11 November, public prosecutor Leo de Wit charged him with six criminal acts: murder, attempted murder (of a police officer), attempted

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

(of by-standers and police officers), violation of the law on gun control, suspicion of participation in a criminal organization with terrorist aims, and conspiracy to murder with a terrorist purpose against van Gogh, Representative Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and others. When arrested, Bouyeri had on him a farewell poem titled ''In bloed gedoopt'' ("Baptized in Blood").

Trial

Bouyeri's trial took place over two days, 11 and 12 July 2005, in a high-security building in Amsterdam's

Osdorp Osdorp () is neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. A larger area was, from 1981 until 2010, a ''stadsdeel'' (borough) of Amsterdam and in 2010 was merged into the new borough of Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Neighborhood The core neighborhood of Osdo ...

neighbourhood. In a letter on 8 July, Bouyeri announced that he would not attend the trial voluntarily and that he did not accept its jurisdiction. The prosecutor demanded that he be forcibly transported to the courthouse, which the court granted. Bouyeri's lawyers attended the trial, but they did not ask questions or make closing statements. Bouyeri appeared before the court carrying a

under his arm. At the trial, Bouyeri expressed no remorse for the murder he admitted to having committed, telling the victim's mother, "I do not feel your pain. I do not have any sympathy for you. I cannot feel for you because I think you are a non-believer." Bouyeri also expressed that he would have done it again if he had the chance. Bouyeri also argued that "in the fight of the believers against the infidels, violence is approved by the prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

". The

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

demanded

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

for Bouyeri, stating, "The defendant rejects our democracy. He even wants to bring down our democracy. With violence. He is insistent. To this day. He sticks to his views with perseverance." On 26 July 2005, Bouyeri was sentenced to life in prison, which is the most severe punishment under Dutch law. Unlike other countries in Europe, life imprisonment carries no chance of

in the Netherlands. A release is technically possible via a pardon by the reigning monarch, but this is extremely rare; only a few of these pardons have ever been successful in recent history. Other than war criminals, Bouyeri is only the 28th person to receive this punishment since 1945, and the only person to receive a life sentence for a single murder without aggravating circumstances. Life sentences were seen only with multiple-homicide cases, but the ''Wet terroristische misdrijven'' (Terrorist Crimes Law) that went into effect on 10 August 2004 extended it to leaders of terrorist organisations. Imprisonments ordinarily in excess of 15 years can be upgraded to life imprisonment, as was the case with Bouyeri. Bouyeri is held in the EBI ( Supermax) facility within

prison. There he met

Ridouan Taghi Ridouan Taghi (born 20 December 1977) is a Moroccan-Dutch criminal who became a prime suspect in at least ten murders related to organised crime, drug trafficking and leading a criminal organisation. Until his late 2019 arrest in Dubai, Taghi was ...

with whome he developed a close bond. Because of this relationship, Bouyeri was moved to another prison. Taghi and Bouyeri continued writing each other in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, mostly consisting of

verses.

In popular culture

* South African artist Marlene Dumas drew a portrait of Bouyeri in 2005 that has been displayed in the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

. *

Leon de Winter Leon de Winter (born 24 February 1954) is a Dutch writer and columnist. Early life Leon de Winter was born on 24 February 1954 in Den Bosch, in the southern Netherlands. He grew up in a Jewish orthodox family and attended City Grammar School ...

's bestselling 2012 novel ''Acts of Kindness'' features Bouyeri and van Gogh as characters. * Journalist

Theodor Holman Theodor Holman (born 9 January 1953, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch journalist, presenter, and writer of Indo descent. He studied Dutch language and History at the University of Amsterdam. He was editor of the satirical student newspaper Propria Cure ...

, one of van Gogh's best friends, wrote a film in 2014 called ''2/11 – Het Spel van de Wolf'' (a reference to the date van Gogh was killed, November 2; "The Game of the Wolf") that "posits a far-fetched theory that the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

was in a way responsible for the murder by pressuring the

Dutch secret service The General Intelligence and Security Service ( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD; ) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national se ...

not to arrest Mr. Bouyeri—whom Dutch authorities had been monitoring—to use him to get to a bigger fish with ties to

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

". The film premiered at the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival ( nl, Nederlands Film Festival) is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Be ...

in October 2014 and played on national television on November 2, 2014. The title alludes to Van Gogh's movie ''

06/05 ''06/05'', called ''May 6th'' in most English-speaking countries, is a Dutch 2004 film directed by Theo van Gogh, based on the novel '' De Zesde Mei'' by Tomas Ross. The film is a fictional version of the events that led to the assassination o ...

'', in which it's implied that

Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) ...

's murder was facilitated by the Dutch secret service agency.

References

;Further reading
2 November - Death of a filmmaker"Text of the farewell poem"
at

Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seattl ...

Albert Benschop Albert Benschop (10 May 1949, Rijswijk - 27 February 2018) was a Dutch sociologist with the University of Amsterdam's faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He was the chief editor of the university's SocioSite project. His internet studies a ...

.
Chronicle of a Political Murder Foretold: Jihad in the Netherlands
' *Report of Ruud Peters, an expert witness for the prosecution
"Peters Report"
(in Dutch)