Dutch Police arrest suspect in assassination attempt on Prime Minister

Dutch police have arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of organising an attempt to kill acting Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Volkskrant newspaper reported on Wednesday.

In September, the security detail of the acting prime minister, whose government has pledged to crack down on organized crime, was strengthened over concerns that he may be abducted or killed. Several months earlier, prominent Dutch crime reporter, Peter R. de Vries was shot in the street in the center of Amsterdam.

Yavuz O., arrested this summer, is suspected of planning to assassinate Rutte and several other politicians.

According to the newspaper, the suspect published calls for violence on a Telegram channel that was created by conspiracy theory fans. In December 2020, he said, in a comment on a photo of the Dutch government and the king, that "they must all be shot" and most Dutch "hate this Rutte."

The suspect discussed a plan to kill Rutte and storm the parliament with others, the newspaper reports. He also searched on the internet for places to buy weapons.

The suspect will face trial in the Hague next week. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )