Amsterdam
The Dutch-born Muslim who fatally shot and stabbed filmmaker Theo van Gogh got the maximum sentence of life in prison this week. The victim was the great-grandnephew of Vincent van Gogh. A life sentence is extremely rare in the Netherlands, which has no death penalty. Muhammad Bouyeri had earlier shocked the country with his declaration that he felt no regret for the killing, because van Gogh “deserved to die” for making a film that was critical of Islam. “The defendant rejects the democratic system in its entirety,” said Judge Udo Willem Bentinck. “Society must receive the maximum protection from this defendant.” Bouyeri, the son of Moroccan immigrants, was born and raised in Amsterdam.
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