Theo van Gogh murdered, Amsterdam
Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh, 47, was stabbed and shot dead while cycling in Amsterdam on 2 November 2004. Police arrested a 26-year-old man with joint Dutch and Moroccan nationality in a nearby park after an exchange of gunfire in which the suspect and a police officer were both wounded. Van Gogh had received death threats after his film Submission, made with Somali-born politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali and portraying violence against women in Islamic societies, was shown on Dutch TV. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said "it is unacceptable if expressing your opinion would be the cause of this brutal murder".
On 26 July 2005 an Amsterdam court sentenced Mohammed Bouyeri to life in prison without parole, ruling that the murder was a terrorist act. The BBC reported that the killer slashed van Gogh's throat and used a knife to pin a letter to his chest that threatened Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Holding a copy of the Koran, Bouyeri told the court that "the law compels me to chop off the head of anyone who insults Allah and the prophet". The BBC also reported that after the murder, mosques in several Dutch cities were vandalised or targeted in failed arson attempts.
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