Van Gogh Murderer Sentenced to Life

A court in the Netherlands has sentenced the killer of Theo van Gogh to prison for life. The case stirred up racial and religious tension in the country and forced policy makers to ask questions about the integration of Muslims into Dutch society. By Mark Caldwell

A court in the Netherlands has sentenced the self-confessed killer of Theo van Gogh to prison for life. The case stirred up racial and religious tension in the country and forced policy makers to ask questions about the integration of Muslims into Dutch society. Mark Caldwell reports

photo: dpa
Mohammed Bouyeri, self-confessed killer of van Gogh, was sentenced to life in jail

​​Mohammed Bouyeri, an Amsterdam-born Muslim of Moroccan descent, was found guilty of killing Theo van Gogh in early November of last year as he cycled to work in Amsterdam. He shot and stabbed Van Gogh, slashing his throat and then pinning a note to his body with a knife. The attack was carried out in broad daylight.

Brutal killing

Judge Udo Willem Bentinck told Amsterdam District Court on Tuesday that 27 year old Bouyeri had murdered Van Gogh in a gruesome manner without mercy, and had shown no remorse for his actions.

Bouyeri has vowed he would do it again, the judge said, if he were ever set at liberty. The court believes there is no chance that he could be rehabilitated or reintegrated back into society without a very real risk. Society must therefore be given the maximum protection against him.

The judge also said the murder had provoked a wave of revulsion and disdain in the Netherlands. Bouyeri confessed to the murder during his trial earlier this month, saying he had been motivated by his religious convictions. He praised Allah and carried the Koran in court during the trial.

Bouyeri was also found guilty of the attempted murder of eight police officers and two bystanders, the illegal possession of weapons and munitions, and threatening Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

End of the innocence

"The Netherlands has lost its innocence. Our country has suddenly become a target of international terrorism," prosecutor Frits van Straelen said during the trial.

Prosecutors said Bouyeri who waived the right to mount a defence, was a radical Muslim dedicated to a holy war against what he regarded as the enemies of Islam, and had murdered Van Gogh to spread terror in the Netherlands.

Theo Van Gogh was a descendent of the brother of the 19th century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. He was known for his outspoken criticism of Islam and angered many Muslims by making a film called Submission which accused Islam of condoning violence against women.

His murder sparked a wave of attacks on mosques, religious schools and churches in a country once renowned for its tolerance, and raised questions about the integration of the almost one million Muslims living in the Netherlands.

Van Gogh's killing revived memories of the murder of anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn by an aminal rights activist in 2002, which also exposed mounting tension in the Netherlands over the country's large foreign population.

Mark Caldwell

© DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE 2005

Qantara.de

Interview Khaled Choukat
"The Murder of van Gogh Was a Real Catastrophe for Us"
If Theo van Gogh's murderer had attended film school, he would have responded to the film "Submission" in a civilized manner, says Khaled Choukat, director of the Arab Film Festival and delegate for the Greens Party in the Rotterdam parliament.

Netherlands
A Litmus Test for the Dutch Integration Policy
The murder of the Dutch film-maker Van Gogh at the hands of a Moroccan has been followed by arson attacks on mosques and churches. The Netherlands' integration policy, which for years has been a model liberal project for Europe, is increasingly being called into question. By Lennart Lehmann

Ayaan Hirsi Ali / Geert Mak
The Trend towards Ideologising Public Debate in the Netherlands
The Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali makes use of clichés about Islam and demands that Muslims be tested as to their convictions. The intellectual Geert Mak complains of an ideologising of public discussion. By Ilja Braun

Islam and Europe
Concertgebouw and More Couscous
Dutch and Moroccans need to show more curiosity, says Abdelkader Benali, Moroccan-born Dutch author. In this essay, Benali discusses the mutual lack of knowledge and its effect on the relationship between the Dutch and the Moroccans.