A Dutch court has convicted five men for their part in last month's violence against Israeli football fans in Amsterdam that sparked accusations of anti-Semitism.
On Tuesday, the Amsterdam district court found them guilty for a range of crimes including kicking fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club and inciting violence in chat groups.
The heaviest sentence was imposed against a man identified as Sefa O.. He was handed six months in prison for carrying out public violence against several people.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans came under "hit-and-run" style attacks in the early hours of November 8 after their European League match against Amsterdam giants Ajax.
Images of the violence, which left five fans briefly hospitalised, circulated globally and drew a furious reaction in Israel, including accusations of a "pogrom".
The most serious case under consideration on Tuesday was Sefa O.'s, who prosecutors said played a "leading role" in the violence.
The court saw images of a man identified as O. kicking a person on the ground, chasing targets, and punching people in the head and the body.
The prosecutor said the beatings had "little to do with football" but added that "in this case, there was no evidence of… a terrorist intent and the violence was not motivated by anti-Semitic sentiment".
"The violence was influenced by the situation in Gaza, not by anti-Semitism," said the prosecutor.
The attacks followed two days of skirmishes that also saw Maccabi fans chant anti-Arab songs, vandalise a taxi and burn a Palestinian flag.
Police said they were investigating at least 45 people over the violence, including that carried out by fans of the Israeli club.
Another man identified as Umutcan A., 24, received a sentence of one month for assaulting fans and violently ripping a Maccabi scarf from one of them.
Loading...A 22-year-old identified as Abushabab M. faces a charge of attempted murder but his case has been postponed while he undergoes a psychiatric assessment.
He was born in the Gaza Strip and grew up in a war zone, his lawyer told the court, while M. sat sobbing as his case was being heard.
A further six suspects are set to appear at a later stage.
Three of these suspects are minors and their cases will be heard behind closed doors.
At an emotionally charged news conference the morning after the riots, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said the city had been "deeply damaged" by "hateful anti-Semitic rioters".
However, Ms Halsema later said she regretted the parallel she had drawn between the violence and "memories of pogroms", saying this word had been used as propaganda.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the violence at the time as a "premeditated anti-Semitic attack."
Agence France-Presse