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A fire broke out on Saturday in the house of Faouzi Achbar, the Dutch-Moroccan Rotterdam Deputy Mayor for the center-left political party THINK (Dutch: DENK), according to a Monday report by the Netherlands' national broadcaster NOS.
The fire, believed to be arson, started around 22:30. Fortunately, Achbar and his family were not home at the time. It is unknown who started the fire and why the alderman was targeted, NOS explained, adding that the police say they are currently investigating the case. The alderman's home was damaged and is currently uninhabitable.
«We don't know anything, but the police suspect arson», said Achbar's spokesperson.
«A direct attack on democracy and our constitutional state and a sickening attack on someone who works for the city with heart and soul every day», Serkan Soytekin, the Rotterdam faction leader of Denk, wrote on X following news on the fire.
Stephan van Baarle, the Denk faction leader in the House of Representatives, also condemned the fire. «I call on the authorities to do everything they can to catch and punish the perpetrators», he said on X.
Born in Rotterdam, Achbar has been alderman for Welfare, Coexistence, Sports and Digital Inclusion since 2021. He has been a member of the Rotterdam council on behalf of Denk since 2018.
