Two years in prison for French after failed liberation attempt Omar L. | Inland

LIVE – Reporter Saskia Belleman is present at the trial. You can read her tweets at the bottom of this article (from approximately 1.30 pm).

Alberic G., 30, Bilal L., 27, Foulet N., 22, and Hatime O., 25, broke into the prison gate on Sunday, January 19, with a grinder and bolt cutters. They made a hole in the fence of the penitentiary institution, while on the other side of the fence Omar L., who had been sentenced to life, was waiting at the shelter.

The liberation attempt failed and the French suspects fled with a getaway car. After a search, in which a helicopter was deployed, the police were able to arrest the men. Three of them were picked up on the N813 near Wehl and one near Zevenaar.

The court says it cannot determine whether the men knew in advance that the prisoner they were going to release was Omar L. “The men did come to the Netherlands from France especially for this liberation campaign. The campaign was also well prepared. So the men must have known that they would free a person who was serving a long prison sentence and that he had a network that can arrange these kinds of actions, ”the court said.

The court calls the liberation attempt very serious and worrying. “Their actions show a lack of respect for the rule of law,” the court said in the verdict. Freeing a prisoner carries a maximum prison sentence of four years. Because the liberation campaign was not successful, the penalty for the French foursome is lower. Also because the men did not use violence against persons during the liberation campaign and were unarmed. In addition, the court finds that the handling of the used cars is not proven.

L. has been imprisoned in the extra security prison in Vught since the stranded liberation attempt. L. was sentenced to life imprisonment in June last year for organizing and directing, among other things, two liquidations in 2015. His case is still on appeal. L.’s brother Youssef and a friend of his were shot in 2012 in the Staatsliedenbuurt in Amsterdam. This double liquidation would have been the catalyst for the violence of L. and his.

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