Christian Journalist In Hot Water Over Terrorism-Linked Ex-Boyfriend

Federalist: On January 17, Dutch journalist Ans Boersma was expelled from Turkey. Initially, journalists and politicians in the Netherlands responded with outrage, decrying this as another instance of the Turkish government’s violating the freedom of the press.

However, the story quickly took a bizarre twist. Dutch authorities have confirmed that Boersma, 31, is a suspect in an ongoing terrorism investigation.

The investigation centers on her ex-boyfriend, a man of Syrian origin who has been identified publicly only by the name “Abdulaziz al-H.” He was arrested last year on the grounds that he had fought for Jabhat al-Nusra, an organization sometimes called “Al-Qaeda in Syria.” During a pretrial hearing in February, Dutch prosecutors alleged that Abdulaziz held a leadership position in al-Nusra. They claim that he climbed the ranks quickly after he helped orchestrate an attack that killed 200 people. He is also accused of laundering money for al-Nusra.

His case drew significant media attention in the Netherlands long before his connection to Boersma became public. In September 2017, Aziz attended the Amsterdam screening of a documentary about the Syrian civil war. Other people from Syria were in attendance and recognized him as a jihadist. They attempted to have him apprehended, but in the ensuing commotion he managed to flee the theater.

Aziz arrived in the Netherlands in 2014. Dutch authorities suspect Boersma of helping him obtain false documents he used to secure a residence visa. Aziz and Boersma broke up in 2015.

Boersma filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government and is giving interviews to tell her side of the story. She says Abdulaziz admitted to her that he been involved with al-Nusra in its early days when its mission was only to overthrow President Assad. She says he said he quit when it became an Islamic extremist group.

“He always told me that he had no blood on his hands and that he had never committed any human rights violations,” she said in an interview with Dutch media.

Her account was contradicted at Abdulaziz’s pretrial hearing. Dutch authorities were tapping his phone prior to his arrest. Prosecutors allege that in one call Abdulaziz told his brother about an incident in which Boersma found incriminating information on his iPad. He told his brother this caused him to vow to her that he would never kill again. Boersma denies anything of the sort ever took place.

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