AMSTERDAM — 2004 · Murder
The Theo van Gogh Case
Dutch film director and columnist Theo van Gogh was attacked and killed on the morning of 2 November 2004 while cycling to work, outside the Amsterdam-Oost borough office. Van Gogh had stirred controversy with 'Submission', a short film criticising the treatment of women in Islam. The 26-year-old attacker, caught at the scene, was a member of the radical Islamist Hofstad network and was sentenced to life without parole in July 2005. The killing deepened Dutch debates on free speech, immigration and radicalisation.
- Date
- 2004
- Place
- Amsterdam-Oost, Netherlands, Amsterdam, NL
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 52.3580, 4.9290 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 2 November 2004Van Gogh was killed; the attacker was caught.
- November 2004Tensions and reprisal attacks followed.
- 26 July 2005The attacker was sentenced to life without parole.
Sources
- NPR — Filmmaker Van Gogh murdered npr.org ↗
- NBC News — Van Gogh murder suspect confesses to killing nbcnews.com ↗
- NPR
- NBC News
Source grade B: at least one verifiable linked source. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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Categories
🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.