One to eight months in prison demanded on the second day of the Ajax-Maccabi court hearing

On the second day of the trial into the violence surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match, the Public Prosecution Service demanded eight months in prison against a 24-year-old suspect. A second 26-year-old suspect was sentenced to a month in prison and community service.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, 24-year-old Umutcan A. kicked someone in the face in the center of Amsterdam. The second suspect, Karavan S., is suspected of having distributed information about the places where Maccabi fans were in Amsterdam. They were then allegedly attacked.

A. has been charged with two counts: open violence and theft with violence. CCTV footage shows him kicking several Maccabi fans. He also forcibly takes away a Maccabi scarf and grabs the victim by the throat.

In addition, A. was in app groups in which he wrote about a “Jew hunt” in the hours before the violence.

The Public Prosecution Service emphasizes that the suspect chose to behave in this way. “Suspect comes downtown despite the tense atmosphere in the city and chooses to join a group,” the officer said. “The suspect then chooses to participate in hitting and kicking and after the first victim he chooses to continue. He then forcibly takes away a Maccabi scarf, as a kind of trophy.”

According to the Public Prosecution Service, a prison sentence is appropriate. Of the eight months demanded, three are conditional.

A.’s defense submitted a video showing misconduct and violence by Maccabi fans in Amsterdam the night before the match. The Israeli supporters provoked the violence through provocations, A.’s lawyers believe. According to the defense, A. “had no intention to harm anyone and there is no evidence of injury to victims that leads to this sentence.”

Umutcan A. himself got the last word. He said he regrets everything that happened that day. In his own words, he got carried away and has no hatred for Jews. “I should have acted differently and avoided the center of Amsterdam. It’s sad, it’s a shame. For me and for the victims.”

The second suspect, Karavan S., mainly concerns his activity in app groups. The suspect himself was not present at the riots, but shared locations where Maccabi fans would be, hotels where they would stay and their flight details, to let them know what time they would be back on the streets the next day.

There were almost a thousand members in the app group in question. S. has known that he was active in the group on November 7 and 8. The Public Prosecution Service suspects S. of complicity in public violence and demands a prison sentence of one month, of which two weeks are conditional. In addition, there is a community service order of 120 hours.

“Violence does not necessarily have to have been actually committed by the suspect himself, but this could have moved people. This makes it an intentional crime,” said the public prosecutor.

The Public Prosecution Service mentions discrimination by the suspect as an aggravating element of the sentence. In the app groups he speaks several times about ‘cancer Jews’. “His statements in the app group had a catalytic effect on the violence of the night and he also normalized the behavior. The Public Prosecution Service greatly blames him for this,” said the officer.

Yesterday was the first day of the hearing. There, the Public Prosecution Service demanded prison sentences of six months to two years for suspects. The court in Amsterdam will give its ruling on December 24.