Netherlands: Who Gets the Short End of the Stick in the Dutch Housing Shortage?

Ter Apel Asylum Center

The Netherlands is a tiny country, but with a very high population density. For years, there has been a shortage of housing, and those in need of social housing have to go on a waiting list that can last years. The obvious solution is to build more houses, but European courts, which have jurisdiction over all EU member nations, have ruled that, due to environmental concerns, housing construction in the Netherlands must be limited.

Enter into all this are the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers, refugees, and assorted migrants  mostly from the Middle East and North Africa, who are flooding the country. They are being housed in asylum centers. The largest asylum center in the country, a former NATO base, is in the small town of Ter Apel, and local residents there are fed up with the crime committed by the mostly young, male "refugees". Other towns are resisting the government's plans to build more centers around the country to handle the flow that steadily continues. (Building houses is limited, but more asylum centers? No problem.)

But what happens to that waiting list for social housing? As the Netherlands grants legal resident status to new arrivals (status holders), they go to the head of the list for housing. That means that Dutch families who have been waiting for years for social housing keep getting pushed back on the list.

Now comes a report that there are as many as 4,000 homeless children in the country, homeless because their parents are homeless, in many cases, sleeping in their cars.

The below article from the conservative news site, Dagelijkse Standaard, which describes this sad state of affairs, is translated by Fousesquawk. 

Scandal: Dutch children sleep in cars while status holders get priority for housing everywhere

Domestic   21 April 2026 at 13:30

It is the absolute lowest point in what was once a great and prosperous country. While the party cartel in the Hague squanders billions on asylum reception and places priority on furnished social housing for status holders, thousands of Dutch children are sleeping in autos, damp garages, or on the couches of relatives. Teachers are sounding the alarm over the dire housing shortage among their pupils. It is the cold, hard reality from a decades-long border policy and a government that has abandoned its own citizens.

The harsh reality: Sleeping in a car

The reports coming from the educational sector are flat-out heartbreaking. From new numbers from the Youth Educational Funds, it shows that the schools are sounding the alarm en masse. Last year, there were dozens of requests for emergency assistance for homeless children. We are not talking about an extra math book, rather about fundamental supplies for survival: clothing, blankets, or even an overnight stay in a hotel.

A recent count revealed that there are no less than 4,000 homeless children in the Netherlands. The saddest example? A teacher wanted to give a craft project to a kid to hang up at home. The heartbreaking answer from the child? "I have no wall because we sleep in the car." It is a national scandal that this happens in our country.

Crocodile tears from the elite left

Naturally, the elite left stand ready to scream murder and fire, this time in the person of Hans Spekman, chairman of the Youth Educational Funds and future FNV (Federation of Dutch Trade Unions) boss. Spekman calls the situation "sickening" and says, "We are failing as a society".

It is truly the ultimate hypocrisy. It is precisely the political flank of Spekman, (the PvdA-Labour Party-  and the rest of the leftist cloud) that for decades has advocated for unlimited immigration. They have facilitated the asylum tsunami that has brought our entire housing market to a standstill.

For years, their social housing has been given away with urgency to people who have never contributed here for one day, while Dutch residence-seekers have been consigned to the back of a 15-year waiting list. And now, for prominent leftist bigwigs, pretending to be shocked over the disastrous results of their own policy, it is intolerable.

(Our) own people last

The contrast could not be more gruesome. On the one hand, asylum-seeker centers are being built from scratch out of the ground, and status holders and their families who join them are being immediately housed. On the other hand, we see overfull women's reception shelters, families rotting away in illegal, moldy homes, and Dutch children who have to do their homework in the back seat of a car or in a garage.  

Spekman cynically says: This is happening everywhere in our neatly-manicured country." No, Mr. Spekman, this is happening in a country that is systematically destroyed by politicians who want to save the world, but who let their own people suffocate.

There must be a radical change of course. The borders must be closed, the priority rules for asylum-seekers must be thrown in the trash, and (housing) must be built for the Dutch. Our children belong in a warm bed, not in the trunk of a car. 

Street Takeover in NYC in Name of Palestinians

This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.

-Daily News (NY)

Isn't it amazing just how arrogant and brazen the pro-Palestinian movement has become in America? It is now not enough that groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and their anarchist allies on the left have wreaked havoc on countless campuses across the nation, particularly after the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, which these people celebrate; now they are starting to engage in taking over major city intersections and driving donuts in their vehicles, endangering everybody present. We have seen this practice before by other groups of young people, but now it has been adopted by the pro-Hamas elements in our society.

Early Saturday morning, dozens, if not hundreds, of young people took over an intersection in the Queens borough of New York City. At least one car drove donuts around the intersection, waving the Palestinian flag as others on the street cheered and started fires. When police arrived, some even jumped on the hood of a police car, shattering the windshield before running off. It is unclear how many, if any, were arrested.

From what we can see on the videos, it appears most, if not all, of the rioters were white or Middle Eastern. If that is the case, it is time for the Homeland Security and possibly the Justice Department to get involved. If anybody engaging in this activity is not a US citizen, they should be processed for deportation in addition to any criminal charges.

The New York PD, under normal conditions, is well equipped to deal with this kind of nonsense, and their intelligence unit, again, under normal circumstances, is fully capable of investigating these groups.

However, New York today is not living under normal circumstances. The days of Rudy Giuliani and Ed Koch have long since passed, and in recent years, the city has suffered under poor leadership, especially under Bill de Blasio, a man who detested his police department, who detested him in turn. The reign of Eric Adams was mediocre at best, but now the city has Zohran Mamdami, a far-left socialist and Islamist to boot.  I can only speculate how his ascension to Gracie Mansion is impacting the NYPD's ability to respond to these kinds of incidents and the ability of its intelligence unit to sniff them out before they happen.

There is little doubt that the mopes who engaged in this disgusting incident are greatly emboldened by the fact that one of their own is now the mayor. I fear we are witnessing what is just the beginning of the further downward spiral of New York.  I predict the exodus out of New York will continue, resignations and early retirements among police will increase, and if the current trend continues, New York will wind up being populated pretty much by people who think like Mamdani and act like those who take over intersections, either for the fun of it or to support a rotten (Palestinian) cause.

It all reminds me of the old Kirk Russell movie, "Escape from New York", which should now be reclassified as a documentary.

The Netherlands: Father Charged With Stabbing 14-Year-Old Daughter to Death

Bridge connecting Venlo and Blerick

*(Update- 4-21-26): Dutch press (Bladna.nl)  has identified the victim and her family as Moroccans. It appears that both the father and the mother of the victim are in custody. No motive has been reported.

Early this morning, in the Venlo (Netherlands) neighborhood of Blerick, a 14-year-old girl, identified only as Nour, was found stabbed to death in her home. Her father, not further identified, is under arrest. Two other females were in the house, and their status is not clear. One of the females may be the wife or partner of the father, and may or may not be the girl's mother. Some sources are reporting that both the father and the mother are in custody.

At this point, it is only speculation, and we will follow this story. It seems, however, to be entirely possible, based on the details below, that this is an honor killing, but let's see how this plays out. 

The article below in Algemeen Dagblad is translated by Fousesquawk.

Schoolgirl (14) stabbed to death was "caring and sweet", father's colleague says "everything was normal the day before"

The violent death of 14-year-old Nour has shocked Blerick, Limburg. The girl was stabbed to death in her home early Monday morning, after which her father and his partner were arrested. At her middle school and in the neighborhood, the grief is overwhelming. "She was the sweetest girl I know".

-By Sebastian Quekel, Raymond  Boere, and Luciano de Graaf

Police responded to a stabbing in the Venlo neighborhood about 6:30 am. Emergency services found the teenager seriously wounded, but they were unable to save her.

Shortly thereafter, two residents of the place were arrested. What took place before the tragedy is still under investigation.

A mother from the neighborhood was awakened by the trauma helicopter that was circling over the houses. Her son was a classmate of Nour for years. "Shortly afterward, I heard that it was about Nour. I was completely in shock, just like all the parents."

"I never heard them screaming"

A neighbor living across the street was awakened by the emergency personnel trying to save Nour's life.  A bit later, she saw her father taken out of the house in handcuffs. 

According to this eyewitness, two other women had to go to the police headquarters. "This comes as a total surprise to us. I have never noticed anything going on in the family. I have never heard them screaming or anything. That makes it even more tragic," says this woman.

The daughter of this neighbor across the street is a schoolmate of the victim in middle school. She got the news from her counselor, after which classes were interrupted. "Everyone was crying. Me too because I also knew her". Now she is walking around the neighborhood with her mother to have some distraction. "She was such a happy girl. She was always laughing, and I never saw her angry."

Teacher in tears

At the Blaria College, Nour's middle school, the shock hit hard. Some of the pupils were immediately sent home, and a memorial place was set up.

The school administration is "enormously impacted" and is offering emotional support where needed. "This is naturally a topic of discussion. We are following this quite closely," said a spokesperson. Parents are being allowed to pick their children up under supervision.

A friend of the arrested woman, whose son also goes to Nour's school, sees the sadness all around her. "For my children, she was really a sweetheart of a girl. We are all devastated," she says, audibly shaken.

"Really a caring girl"

Her son says that even the teachers could not hide their tears at school. Nour was also very much loved by them as well. "My son now sits and watches videos all the time, in which they sat and laughed together. It is incomprehensible that she is no more and can only be seen again in these kinds of images."

The cheerful girl was known in the neighborhood as social and caring. She often acted as a peacemaker on the street. "If there were problems, she always tried to solve them. She was such a sweet girl," sighs the girlfriend. "Really a caring girl. Outside, she always gave hugs to everyone."

Known hairdresser

The father, who, aside from Nour, has at least two other children, is no stranger in Blerick.The man has a hair salon in the shopping center around the corner from where the tragedy played out.

While the police are conducting a full investigation in the residence, Mohammed, a colleague, stands in the shop with a lump in his throat. For three years, he has been co-owner of the hair salon of the father, who is now under arrest.

On Monday morning, he heard the news from the neighbors. "I just can't understand it," he stammers in broken Dutch. Yesterday, we were just working together till 4:30. Everything was normal, just like any other day."

"She was part of the family here"

His colleague's daughter was a familiar face in the hair salon. After school, she would often come on her bike to visit her father. "A very nice and quiet girl,' remembers Mohammed. "She came just to say hello, sat with her phone, or chatted with her father. She was part of the family here."

Mohammed has no idea how it went so terribly wrong in the family. They do not speak about each other's private lives. "We talked about work, about the clients. What happened behind closed doors, I don't know."

"Cut hair with the best"

The father and his sons are extremely good in the hair-cutting trade, says the female friend of the arrested woman. "They can cut hair with the best, (and)  his sons are even a bit better than he himself. I know nothing about the father, except that he could be very strict. But that things were so wrong, I had no idea."

She has a close bond with the female suspect. "We are very close. Her heart is really in the right place, that I swear. Just a very sweet woman." The friend sighs and wipes her tears away. "I still cannot comprehend it." A female neighbor confirms that image with RTL News. "I really never expected this from these nice people."

That there is online speculation about a motive and the family situation greatly affects the friend. " I am really disgusted by the unverified things people are posting on Facebook. They know absolutely nothing about how these people are. The reports have to stop."

Old wounds

The fatal incident is opening old wounds in the neighborhood. In 2017, Blerick was in the news for months due to disturbances and two deadly shootings. The Venlo municipality subsequently invested heavily in safety and new construction.

"After that, things stayed quiet for years, until this morning," a neighbor a few doors down the street responds. 

More Campus Anti-Semitism in California

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Hat tip Louis D Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law, Stand With Us, and the Amcha Initiative

Royce Hall at UCLA

The problem of campus anti-Semitism is not just limited to universities. It has also spread to secondary schools. Recently, complaints have been filed in the state of California pertaining to both levels.

The Louis D Brandeis Center and Stand With Us have filed a joint lawsuit against the state of California and its educational offices for failing to protect Jewish students K-12, and this article gives several examples of what Jewish children have had to suffer in various school districts up and down the state.

At the university level, several Jewish UCLA professors have joined a federal lawsuit against UCLA. In this article from the law firm, Holtzman Vogel, 7 professors describe what they have experienced on campus in recent years, especially since October 7, 2023. 

Let me be clear: I fully support the efforts of the above organizations as well as the US Justice Department in bringing legal action to force universities and school districts to fully protect Jews on campus. Call it lawfare or whatever, but if our educational establishment refuses to stand up for Jewish students and faculty on campus, there should be a steep financial price to pay until they get the message. After all, these entities care very much about the bottom line, especially our universities that are awash in billions of dollars, largely from government grants and grants from private individual donors, not to mention foreign sources like China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

At the same time, while I support remedial actions like sensitivity classes on anti-Semitism, education about the Holocaust, and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, these are not sufficient. What is needed is the removal from campus of individuals, be they students or staff, as well as groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who promote and stoke Jew hatred and bring disruption to campus.

The other side brings up the issue of free speech and criticizing the state of Israel in support of the Palestinian cause. Since October 7, 2023, however, support for the Palestinians has warped into support for Hamas, a terrorist organization. The above two links give examples of what this "free speech" has degenerated into. It is not acceptable to openly call for the deaths of Jews. It is not acceptable to verbally or physically intimidate Jews on campus. It is not OK to push a Jewish faculty member to the ground. It is not acceptable to disrupt Jewish events on campus.

There is a saying that a fish rots from the head down. California is such a fish. I don't want to make this a partisan issue, but California is in desperate need of new leadership from top to bottom. It is a one-party state, and this is what you get in a one-party state. Our educational bureaucrats don't care about the problem because our state political leaders don't care about the problem. Say what you will about the current president and administration in Washington, but at least-at last- we have a president, a Justice Department, and a Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights that do care and are willing to bring pressure to bear on our universities. Left to their own devices, our universities and our school districts, at least in California, will not reform. The reform must be forced on them from outside.

 

All Behold the Arc of Trump!

 

"Nobody's ever seen anything like it."

Italy: Another Gang Rape Makes the Headlines

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Remix (Hungary)

Cesena

Last month, Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, publicly complained that Italian courts were hindering the deportation of convicted foreign rapists-and gang rapists. Now, in the Italian town of Cesena (Emilia-Romagna), 7 young men are accused of gang raping a young woman at a party involving hashish and cocaine. All of the accused and the victim are reportedly born in Italy, but of foreign extraction. Most European countries do not have birthright citizenship laws, so it is unclear whether these accused, if convicted, are deportable.

The below article from Il Resto del Carlino is written by Annamaria Senni , dated April 15, 2026, and translated by Fousesquawk.

"Gang-raped and filmed". Nightmare night for a 20-year-old: Smartphones seized

 The 7 alleged perpetrators were born in Italy, but of foreign origin. The incident in a country house during a drug and alcohol party. The victim was in a state of unconsciousness, incapable of reacting to the abuse.

Caption: A procession last fall against gender violence

Cesena, April 15, 2026-Rape during a party in a countryside house in the Cesenate, at the beginning of April. One victim and 7 attackers, 7 boys, all between 19-25 years of age. A party where hashish and cocaine circulated, apparently in abundance. A night (that) culminated, according to the young woman, in a violent gang rape. As unfortunately has happened so many other times, the girl was reportedly induced to have sexual relations under the effect of narcotic substances, in a state of semi-consciousness.

The young men are charged with gang sexual violence against a 20-year-old. The girl's nightmare began when she found herself alone at the party. With her were 7 young men, born in Cesena, but of African and Asian origin. In the house, with the hashish and cocaine, the party quickly degenerated. The victim, who knew the alleged perpetrators, said that the rapists reportedly took advantage of her altered state induced by the use of the substance. There were two episodes of violence on the same night: First on the part of one rapist, then by the gang. It appears that this party was organized at the house of one of the accused and the girl, born in Cesena, but also of foreign origin. After having suffered the violence, she went to the hospital in Cesena.

From there, the prosecutor of Forli launched an investigation. The 20-year-old showed injuries judged to be healable in 10 days and compatible with the facts reported. She told of having suffered violence on the part of the entire group, and that the boys reportedly used the phones to record some videos with sexually explicit content, depicting the girl during the abuse.

Those (images) recorded without any consent by the girl remained in the memories of the phones that were seized by the Carabinieri.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Carabinieri from the Cesena Company are being assisted by their colleagues from the Bologna Canine Unit. The Carabinieri have also arrested one of the 7 accused, a 23-year-old, for possession with intent to sell narcotics, violently resisting a public official, illegal possession of arms and ammunition.

In reviewing the videotaped images contained in the 15 seized cell phones, investigators are looking for other elements of proof to corroborate the sole testimony of the victim. It is not excluded that after the facts are gathered, there will be preventative (custody) measures for the other 6 accused.

The investigators reportedly have in their hands hours of recordings, video, which they say will shed light on that dramatic night. As for the 23-year-old arrested and implicated in the matter, he was found in his house in possession of 530 grams of hashish and 30 grams of cocaine. He attempted to dispose of some packages, likely containing narcotics, by throwing them in the river, but the Carabinieri stopped him. Now he is detained in the jail at Forli. As for the other 6 young men, the State prosecutor of Forli has ordered searches of their homes.

France: Appeals Court Decision in 2018 Strasbourg Christmas Market Terror Attack

Above: Cherif Chekatt

-Vlad Tepes 

In December 2018, Cherif Chekatt, while yelling, "Allahu akhbar!" opened fire at the Strasbourg Christmas Market, killing 5 and wounding 11. Two days later, he was shot and killed by police in Strasbourg. Three other persons were convicted and sentenced to prison as accomplices. Now the man who helped Chekatt procure his weapon hours before the attack has had his 30-year sentence upheld by an appeals court. He must serve at least 20 years of that sentence.

The below article in Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk.

Christmas market attack in Strasbourg: 30 years imprisonment for Audrey Mondjehi

By Le Figaro

One hour ago

Caption: This sketch, drawn on February 29, 2024, shows the defendants, Audrey Mondjehi (on the right), Christian H., Stephane B., and Frederic B., during their trial for the Christmas market attack in Strasbourg in 2018, at the Paris Tribunal.

The Special Criminal Appeals Court of Paris has confirmed the first instance sentence, including the mandatory minimum period of 20 years, during which the 44-year-old repeat offender will not be eligible for any parole or reduction of sentence.

Audrey Mondjehi, a 44-year-old repeat offender, was sentenced on appeal Friday to 30 years in prison for having assisted the jihadist, Cherif Chekatt, in obtaining the pistol used to kill 5 persons at the Strasbourg Christmas Market in 2018. The Special  Criminal Appeals Court of Paris has upheld the first-instance verdict, including the mandatory minimum period of 20 years, during which Audrey Mondjehi will not be eligible for any parole or reduction of sentence. A permanent ban from French territory was also pronounced against the Côte d'Ivoire national.

Chekatt was killed after a 2-day manhunt. Audrey Mondjehi denied being aware of Chekatt's radicalization, although he was close to him after their meeting while in detention in 2007, when he helped him procure a weapon. On the evening of December 11, 2018, after having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (ISIS), Cherif Chekatt, 29, an S-classified (security watchlist) criminal, stormed into the Strasbourg Christmas Market, which attracts around 3 million tourists from around the world each year.

  "Allahu Akhbar!"

Opening fire on passersby while shouting, "Allahu Akhbar!" (God is the greatest), he killed 5 persons and wounded 11 others on the crowded streets of the Alsace capital. He was killed by law enforcement 2 days later in the Strasbourg district of Neudorf, where he had been spotted, and which he knew well, having grown up there.

In the trial of first instance (initial trial), two other associates, convicted of criminal association but with no terrorist elements established, were sentenced to 4 and 5 years in prison, respectively, with 1-1/2 years suspended. A third man was acquitted.

Albert B., the octogenarian who had sold the weapon to Mondjehi and Chekatt a few hours before the attack, will never be tried. At the end of 2025, a medical expert opinion concluded that his state of health was permanently "incompatible" with any appearance in court. He had previously been unable to appear at the initial trial.

SJP at Duke Suspended

Add Duke University to the ever-growing list of universities that have suspended the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. After posting the below image, originally conjured up by the Black Panthers in 1970, SJP at Duke has joined the list. Here is how the campus newspaper, The Duke Chronicle, is reporting it.

This despicable organization is the creation of Hatem Bazian, a professor at UC Berkeley. He himself has been accused of anti-Semitism countless times ever since he washed up on our shores at San Francisco State University.

I've said it before, and I will say it again-even if I sound like a broken record. This organization should be permanently banned from every campus in the nation.

More Controversy at Harvard

Harvard University, once considered America's most prestigious university, has been shaken by one controversy after another in recent years, most of which revolve around campus anti-Semitism. In January 2024, the institution saw the forced resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, after her disastrous testimony before the House Subcommittee on Education and the Workplace, in which she (and other university presidents) were unable to coherently state that calling for the killing of Jews violated campus values!  At the same time, the school has come under fire, not only from Congress but also from the Justice Department, and has been sued civilly as a result of campus anti-Semitism.

Now comes the latest embarrassment for Harvard. The Harvard College Debate Union announced it was going to host a debate on the question of whether the granting of full rights to Jews in Europe during the Enlightenment, in exchange for full assimilation, was a good idea. As soon as objections started coming in, the planned debate was scrapped. It should have been clear to anyone with half a brain that such a debate would certainly attract all kinds of anti-Jewish arguments. Nevertheless, the campus newspaper, Harvard Crimson, posted an editorial taking issue with the cancellation.

Kenneth Markus, Director of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law, also addressed the issue in a recent Boston Herald op-ed. The Brandeis Center has recently entered into a civil settlement with Harvard, the terms of which are listed in the article. 

As Mr Markus indicates, Harvard still has a long way to go before it has rid itself of campus anti-Semitism. Ultimately, in my view, that will involve removing the purveyors of anti-Semitism from the campus.

France: Police Arrest Suspect in Serial Rapes (of Goats and Sheep)

Hat tip Francois DeSouche 

In the French municipality of Pennes-Mirabeau, just outside Marseille, local farmers were discovering some of their sheep and goats showing signs of sexual abuse. The poor animals were also bound by their feet. Some of the farmers set up surveillance cameras near their flocks, and sure enough, the suspect was caught on camera. Police have now arrested a 19-year-old suspect, who is from Afghanistan.

"Nobody's ever seen anything like it."

The below article from La Provence is translated by Fousesquawk.

Suspected of "rape" of goats and sheep: Man arrested near Marseille

By Florent Bonnefoi

Posted April 11, 2026 at 08:35- Updated April 11, 2026 at o8:46

Caption: The suspect, age 19, was arrested on late Thursday night-early Friday morning by Bac (Anti-Criminality Brigade)

A young man, age 19, was arrested on late Thursday night-early Friday morning (April 9-10) by Bac after a series of sexual attacks against goats and sheep in Pennes-Mirabeau.

The case had been worrying owners of sheep and goats in the town of Pennes-Mirabeau since the start of 2026. On several occasions over the months of February and March, in particular, they had found some of their goats and sheep in a pitiful state.

These animals showed signs of sexual abuse. Some were found with bloody vulvas (and) had their paws tied, clearly ruling out the possibility of an unscrupulous billy goat or ram.

Captured by hunting cameras

After several similar episodes, the owners installed camera traps on their land in the hope of clearing up the mystery before discovering to their horror that the cause of this abuse was human. The silhouette of a young man appeared in the images captured by the hunting cameras.

With the aid of these documents, a Bac team was able to catch a suspect matching the description on Thursday night-Friday morning, April 10, 2026.  Arrested and placed into custody, this young man, 19, who is reportedly of Afghan nationality, will be prosecuted for acts of cruelty toward an animal, domesticated, tamed, or held in captivity.

Italy: Accused Rapist Released on Procedural Error

Hat tip Gates of Vienna

Pre-Trial detention order not translated into French

Pistoia, Italy

If you think the US is the only country with a wacko judiciary, think again. In Italy, an accused rapist from Mali has been released from custody because.....

The order for pre-trial detention was not translated into French!

The below article from today's Il Giornale is translated  (into English) by Fousesquawk.

Judicial news-Procedural error

-Giovanni Fiorentino

April 10, 2026 at 13:18

"The order had not been translated into French". And the foreigner accused of having raped  an elderly  lady is free again.

The court of review has ordered the release of the 22-year-old from Mali, accused of having robbed and raped a 74-year-old woman in Pistoia, as the order of preventive custody had not been translated into the language of the defendant.

The order of preventive custody in jail issued by the judge of preliminary instruction of the Pistoia Tribunal last July was not translated into French, the language of the defendant. And for this reason, the Tribune of Review has ordered the release of the 22-year-old from Mali, accused of having robbed and raped a 74-year-old woman. This is the surreal story out of Toscana.

It all began last summer in the Pistoia capital when the elderly woman was approached by the young (non-EU) foreigner who asked her for some change. But under this excuse, he first forced her to suffer violence in the entrance hall of the building in which the woman was living, and then she was allegedly forced into her home, where he further abused her before the daughter arrived. The foreigner then fled before being tracked down two days after the incident at the Florence train station and arrested. The trial, according to the daily newspaper, Il Tirreno, began in the past few days. However, after the request by the defense, the Court of Cassation issued a new ruling to the Review Court, having found a procedural error.

"We are all shocked and frightened," the daughter of the elderly woman told La Nazione. "It is as if he were released and we are all put in prison, all of our family. We no longer feel free to leave the house, and we fear revenge, also because this young man is an unstable person, and it is not the first time he has attacked someone. He knows where we live. In effect, our lives are on hold. My mother has testified against him and identified him as her attacker. She cannot live cooped up at home because she is a very active and busy person. She is a professional and goes to Florence every day."

He could find her in front of a train or on the street. This young man is homeless, he lives on the street, and he isn't even wearing an electronic bracelet. How is it possible that nobody thought of us?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fousesquawk comment: Coming from a law enforcement background and having spent 5 years working with Italian police and prosecutors in the 1980s, of course, any person arrested must have translation services in their native language That is the law in the US as well as the members of the European Union. However, given the seriousness of the offense, is there no other remedy than putting this man back on the streets? If he is deemed mentally unstable, as the above article suggests, could he not have been placed in a secure psychiatric facility? What about detention for purposes of deportation-to be superceded by new charges? From reading other articles, it appears that the Italians still intend to restart the prosecutive process. I am guessing and hoping that this person is under some sort of police surveillance until such time as he can be rearrested.

At any rate, it is just another example of how we in the West are failing to protect our own citizens. 

Italy: Journalists Under Islamist Threat

For the past few months, we have been following the story regarding the conservative Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, and how they are under threat from Islamist in Italy. At the center of this controversy is Mohammed Hannoun, who is accused of being one of the top Hamas leaders in Italy. He and three other men are in prison on terrorism-related charges. Today, an appeals court in Italy ruled in their favor and sent the case back to the Genoa court for reexamination. The 4 subjects remain in custody in the meantime.

Giulia Sorrentino, a young reporter for Il Giornale, has written countless articles on migrant crime in Italy as well as reporting on the activities of Islamists like Hannoun. For that, she has received threats and harassment from Hannoun's followers. The director of Il Giornale, Tommaso Cerno, is also outspoken on the topic of Islamist extremism in Italy and stands by Sorrentino's reporting.

Over the past few years, we have translated several of Sorrentino's articles into English. I have great admiration for her fearless reporting. I wish more European newspapers had the courage to report events as they truly are today in Europe..

The below editorial in today's Il Giornale brings us up to date on the ongoing controversy. It is translated by Fousesquawk.

National-Hate and Violence

The threats to Il Giornale after the Hannoun sentence from his men: "Nazis and Zionists"

After the decision by the (Court of) Cassation, attacks against our newspaper are arriving. Director Cerno: "Violent people protected by the pro-Iran left, we will continue our battle against Islamist terrorists and anarchists."

Editor web-  April 9, 2026 at 14:27

The Court of Cassation has ruled and upheld the arguments of the defense attorneys of Mohammed Hannoun and the other three persons jailed today in a maximum security facility, accused of terrorism. Threatening our reporter, Giulia Sorrentino, and the director, Tommaso Cerno, overnight was one of the associates of Hannoun, Amir Abdaljawwad. In a story specifically tagging our reporter, he wrote: "I hope to see your expression and that of your Nazi friends after all of your evidence has been thrown out. I suggest a way to take advantage of these and the pages of your newspaper: They could be used to wipe your ass," he writes, attaching the post in which he explained how positive the opinion of the Court was for them. But certainly, all this will not stop us; we will continue to uncover who the men are connected to fundamentalism and Islamic terrorism in Italy, who use  charity to finance the men tied to terrorism, and repeating that is Director Cerno: "Violent people protected by the pro-Iran left, we will continue our battle against Islamic terrorists and anarchists." 

"While awaiting the complete publication of the Court of Cassation report and the review order, the decision yesterday on the Hannoun case is surprising. As we await these details, the hundreds of pieces of evidence that emerged in these months against a group of people, who-while being wiretapped- praised attacks, rejoiced in the deaths of Jewish civilians, and listened to songs that glorified October 7, remain. I also recall that two Parliamentary questions were filed on this case in the Parliamentary Chamber, co-signed by myself and several other colleagues, which will continue to guarantee the inquiry into the full truth and the responsibility for these serious facts.  What is not surprising, on the other hand, is the latest disgraceful reaction against the Il Giornale journalist, Giulia Sorrentino, and the director, Tommaso Cerno, following the news yesterday, to whom go our total solidarity," said Federico Mollicone, deputy of Fratelli d'Italia (party) and president of the Cultural Commission of the Chamber (of Deputies). Who then added: "While the left continues to be silent in a manner (that is) complicit- after having invited pro-Hamas and pro-Iran persons to Chamber of Deputies meetings- we," he adds, "will continue to work to tear away the veil of hypocrisy and the numerous shadows  that surround the activities of Hannoun, from the suspicious financial flows to his openly anti-Semitic positions." 

 "Given the seriousness of the circumstantial evidence that has emerged in the investigation by the Genoa prosecutor, the decision of the (Court of) Cassation to nullify the review order that confirmed the preventative custody in jail of Mohammed Hannoun, accused of being at the top of the Hamas leadership in Italy, and three other persons, including Riyad Albustanji, 60-year-old imam and right hand man of Hannoun, of whom there are photos circulating online in which he brandishes an RPG rocket grenade launcher together with militant Islamists from Hamas, with face covered and armed to the teeth, is surprising," the Fratelli D'Italia deputy, Sara Kelany states. Who then continues: " While we are waiting to learn the reasons for this ruling, the consequences of releasing these people are worrisome for national security, given the extremist attitudes and obvious connections to Islamist terrorism. After the ruling, the first threats have already arrived against the daily newspaper, Il Giornale, which has always followed this matter with attention: Solidarity to Director Cerno and reporter Sorrentino, objects of insults from an activist close to Hannoun.