Devil's Advocate is a reality television show broadcast in the Netherlands on the public station Nederland 2.
This show made news in April of 2009, when it ruled that Osama bin Laden was not the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. Defense attorney Gerard Spong was also able to convince a jury that the case lacked evidence that Bin Laden was the head of the terrorist network Al Qaeda.FOX News: Dutch TV Show Feeds Conspiracy Theories on Bin Laden's Role in 9/11
bin Laden Ruling
During the series premiere of the show, defense attorney Gerard Spong convinced the five-person jury to rule that Osama bin Laden did not mastermind the 9-11 attacks and is not the leader of Al Qaeda. The jury did however conclude that he is a terrorist. Spong argued that the connection of bin Laden to the attacks is based on hearsay, saying the videos of bin Laden's confession are not authentic, thus cannot be trusted. He also stated that on the FBI's most wanted list, bin Laden's listing does not mention the 9-11 attacks, meaning the United States Government does not believe the two are connected.FOX News: Dutch TV Show Feeds Conspiracy Theories on Bin Laden's Role in 9/11
Reactions
"Of course this is totally ridiculous... I'm ashamed by it"--Geert Wilders, Dutch politicianFOX News: Dutch TV Show Feeds Conspiracy Theories on Bin Laden's Role in 9/11
"The message is a very disturbing one... It's a very irrational decision based on all the evidence that's been amassed by the 9/11 Commission that has concluded [bin Laden] was the instigator and mastermind of the attacks. It's contradictory to all those factual findings."--Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York CityFOX News: Dutch TV Show Feeds Conspiracy Theories on Bin Laden's Role in 9/11
