Nov 30, 2023 at 2:24 p.m
One of the suspects in the Peter R. de Vries case spoke of Ridouan Taghi in an overheard conversation as “that bastard who organized the whole thing”. He also referred to Taghi as the Dutch Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug trafficker known for his violence.
Erickson O. is considered one of the people who filmed De Vries after the attack on July 6, 2021. The images were then distributed via social media. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), this happened with a terrorist motive.
At Thursday’s hearing, the public prosecutor explained how O.’s house was investigated early last year and that O.’s phone was confiscated. Three days later, on January 13, O.’s interrogation was scheduled, but the suspect did not show up.
The police decided to visit O.’s house and posted a so-called summons letter on his front door. The letter stated that O. really had to come by on the 14th. In the evening, the 29-year-old suspect was overheard at home while he was talking to his roommate. They discussed, among other things, the seizure of the telephone and the letter from the police.
“They want to know if I’m talking to that Taghi or something. I can’t even remember what…”, O. is said to have said, according to the Public Prosecution Service. His roommate then asks who O. is talking about. “That Taghi. That bastard who organized the whole thing.”
File documents in NU.nl’s possession show that the housemate does not yet fully understand. He asks O. if that is the “bastard who shot”. O. then answers: “No, the one who organized the thing. Who they took for the thing.”
The roommate asks for clarification about the arrest: “You are serious? And they have already arrested him?” To which O. replies: “A long time ago, all the way in Dubai over there.”
Investigation team: There is no other way than that it concerns Taghi
The investigation team noted in the file that “given the further description that O. subsequently gives, it cannot be otherwise than that he is talking about Ridouan Taghi here”.
O.’s lawyer Vito Shukrula says in a response that what his client says is all gossip and backbiting. “Shortly after Peter R. de Vries was shot, Mr Taghi’s name was already circulating in the media as a client,” says Shukrula. “My client has also seen that happen and that is why he says this about Mr. Taghi. So nothing special. If you approach the average Dutch citizen on the street and ask who is behind the murder of De Vries, they will also mention the name Taghi “That doesn’t mean it’s actually true.”
Judgment is scheduled for June 2024
The tapped conversation is one of the last additions to the file before the substantive hearing starts on January 23 next year.
De Vries’ relatives will have their say on January 24. Two days later, the Public Prosecution Service issues sentence demands against a total of ten suspects. The ruling is scheduled for June 2024.
2023-11-30 13:24:30
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