Ahmed al-J

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Charge:	Arson
Sentence:	18 months
Years Imprisoned:	3
Year Crime:	2005
Year Convicted:	2006
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Netherlands
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	Amsterdam
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Ahmed al-J was wrongly convicted in 2006 of arson for a fire in 2005 that was believed to have started in his detention center cell in Haarlem, Netherlands that killed 11 would-be immigrants. He admitted smoking a cigarette and extinguishing it before he went to sleep and woke up to find a fire going. The trial court denied his lawyer's request to appoint a fire expert to determine the statistical chance that a cigarette could have started the fire. In 2009 the appeals court affirmed al-J's conviction, but reduced his sentence to 18 months. He was deported to his home country of Libya since he had served his sentence. In December 2010 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands quashed Ahmed al-J's conviction on the basis the trial court prejudicially erred by refusing to appoint a fire expert to determine the probability of whether al-J's cigarette butt could have started the fire."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	The Supreme Court of the Netherlands quashed Ahmed al-J's conviction in December 2010.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"Supreme Court orders Schiphol fire retrial, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, December 14, 2010"
Information Location 1:	http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/supreme-court-orders-schiphol-fire-retrial
Information Source 2:	"Advocate general - quash Schiphol fire conviction, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, November 5, 2010"
Information Location 2:	http://www.rnw.nl/africa/bulletin/advocate-general-quash-schiphol-fire-conviction
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Ahmed al-J

Charge:

Arson

Sentence:

18 months

Years Imprisoned:

3

Year Crime:

2005

Year Convicted:

2006

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Netherlands

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Amsterdam

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands quashed Ahmed al-J's conviction in December 2010.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Supreme Court orders Schiphol fire retrial, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, December 14, 2010"

Information Location 1:

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/supreme-court-orders-schiphol-fire-retrial

Information Source 2:

"Advocate general - quash Schiphol fire conviction, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, November 5, 2010"

Information Location 2:

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/bulletin/advocate-general-quash-schiphol-fire-conviction

Information Source 3:

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: