Dutch court upholds citizenship revocation for man convicted of terrorism offences

The Dutch Council of State ruled on 30 September that the 2021 decision to revoke the man’s nationality can stand. It overturned an Amsterdam court judgment from March 2025 and said he is legally treated as having lost Dutch citizenship on 29 July 2021. [1]

The man was born in the Netherlands and also has Moroccan nationality through his parents. The judgment records that he travelled to Syria in 2013 and fought with Ahrar al-Sham and later Jund al-Aqsa. In 2021, a criminal appeal court sentenced him to five years and four months in prison for participating in a terrorist organisation and preparing terrorist attacks. That conviction became final in April 2021. [1]

The Amsterdam court had ruled that the law made a prohibited direct distinction based on origin between Dutch citizens with one nationality and those with more than one. The Council of State rejected that reasoning. It did, however, find that the law indirectly disadvantages some dual nationals who cannot renounce a second nationality inherited through their parents. It held that this difference was justified by the purpose of revocation after serious harm to Dutch interests and by the duty to prevent statelessness. The man retains Moroccan nationality. [1] [2]

Probation advisers assessed his risk of reoffending as low in 2021, and Amsterdam removed him from its radicalisation monitoring list in 2024. The Council of State nevertheless held that the minister could conclude he had not shown lasting deradicalisation. [1]