Mert A., an 23-year-old Hoofddorper, is suspected of having prompted several girls to cut themselves and write his username with blood. He also instructed others how they could get their victims to this far.
Mert A. is the second suspect in the so-called COM movement to appear in court. A. is also suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography and possessing 820 grams of hard drugs. Police are currently investigating hundreds of thousands of messages, photos and videos related to this case.
“You have to carve a symbol. Because I'm a god. Do it. Do it. To receive my blessing.” With this kind of text, according to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), Mert A. tried to induce his victims to carve his online username SKR into their bodies. “You’re lucky it’s just three letters.”
In one case, a girl also had to carve an Egyptian symbol in her body. She obeyed. And so the suspect more often worked in various chats with girls on Telegram and Discord, it turned out on Monday in a first pro-forma session against the 23-year-old suspect from Hoofddorp.
A. is suspected of having caused several victims to severely abuse themselves. If they did not, images of a sexual nature were threatened to be made public.
Mert A. is the second suspect in the so-called COM movement to appear in court. That movement consists of
sadistic online groups in which the leaders increase their status by letting young victims do something to themselves or others.
Justin B. from Eindhoven was the first to go to court at the end of last year. B. founded the subgroup No lives matter and is due to appear in court again on Tuesday.
Five suicide attempts
Police warned earlier this month about sadistic chat groups like those of the COM movement. According to the police, parents do not have sufficient insight into what their children do online and the dangers they can face. At least five young Dutch girls have attempted
suicide in the past two years under pressure from such groups.
Victims are recruited on social media, digital platforms and through online games. This includes Discord, Roblox and Telegram. Online, handbooks are going around about how to best edit victims. First they are taken in, then extorted.
Mert A. has also given instructions in chat groups on how to create a dependency position in girls and then pressure them to cut themselves. “It’s a game of repelling and attracting,” the prosecutor read.
Name in blood
A. was active in the subgroup 764 for two years. He used various accounts and usernames and would have demanded
‘cut signs’ from various victims. They had to take pictures or videos of it or live stream that they mutilated themselves. Also came up with reports where victims with their blood had to write his name on a wall or on a floor.
The police are in this case analyzing hundreds of thousands of chat messages. “The suspect has created a complicated web around his online personality. The longer the police search, the more is found. One Telegram group seems to act as a digital archive for itself, a transmission of all the data from its accounts. There we have found 73,458 messages, with a lot of incriminating material," the prosecutor said.
Others ‘exposes’
The defendant said at the first hearing in the Rotterdam District Court that his main username, SKR, would also have been used by someone else. In the courtroom it became clear that part of his statement will mean that he was in these online groups to “exhibit” others. “I couldn’t let it happen and wanted to report it correctly,” said A..
The possession and distribution of child pornography does acknowledge A. According to the prosecution, these are images of girls from 4 to 12 years. The drugs found at A. were in buses milk powder and would not have belonged to him.
A.'s lawyer, Jill Leyten, requested suspension of her client's pre-trial detention. According to her, the ‘compulsion’ towards the victims cannot always be proven. She also read a chat conversation to that effect, with a girl who seemingly easily proceeded to self-mutilation. “Victims can also have a kink or a preference.”
The court ruled that the defendant will remain in custody pending further consideration of his case. The next session is scheduled for April 10.
