By Joris Peters and Sanne Oving
Feb 27, 2024 at 10:31 AM Update: 2 days ago
Ridouan Taghi was given a life sentence on Tuesday for leading a “ruthless murder organization”. Saïd R. and Mario R. were also sentenced to life in prison in the monster Marengo trial, which revolved around six liquidations.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had demanded life in prison against the six main suspects. In three cases the court agreed. The three others, Mao R., Mohamed R. and Achraf B., received prison sentences of more than 15 years to more than 29 years.
A total of seventeen people were tried on Tuesday in the heavily secured Bunker in the Osdorp district of Amsterdam. The other suspects received sentences of up to 23 years and 4 months. In the sentences, the court took into account the long duration of the trial, which took almost six years.
Key witness Nabil B. received ten years in prison. He provided information to the Public Prosecution Service in exchange for halving his sentence. The judge found his statements reliable and emphasized that “no prohibited promises were made” to B.
“These are stiff sentences and there is no other way. We are talking about ruthless and disruptive violence,” the judge said. He spoke of a world “where a life is worth nothing.”
Saïd R. has already indicated that he will appeal. It is not unlikely that other convicts will follow him in this. They have two weeks to pass this on.
Not everyone present at the heavily secured bunker
Not all suspects were present on Tuesday. For example, Taghi and his right-hand man Saïd R. decided to stay in prison instead of coming to court. Yet the court is heavily secured.
The sentencing marks a provisional end to the Marengo trial, which has already lasted 142 days. The group of seventeen, led by 46-year-old Taghi, was convicted of, among other things, participation in a criminal organization, a series of murders, several attempts and preparing various liquidations.
Among the victims are crime blogger Martin Kok and spy shop employee Ronald Bakker.
Process with ‘jet black edge’
The case was a very difficult one for the judiciary. The legal process was accompanied by delays due to new evidence, loss of confidence in judges and many changes of lawyers.
The most famous change is that of top lawyer Inez Weski. She had to leave because the judiciary suspects her of passing on information from Taghi to the outside world.
The death of the brother of key witness Nabil B., his lawyer Derk Wiersum and confidant Peter R. de Vries are also inextricably linked to the case. Although the murders have not been dealt with within the Marengo trial, they are closely related because Taghi is seen as the possible client.
The court took a moment to remember the victims on Tuesday. “Their families must miss a loved one. Wiersum will never take a seat in the courtroom again. Peter R. de Vries will never sit in the press stand again. All this gives the trial a pitch-black edge.”
For years the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands
Taghi was for years the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands. His name was first mentioned in 2015 when someone reported to the police because he was allegedly threatened by Taghi.
In the following years, law enforcement discovered how a large criminal network had formed around Taghi. The group made its money in the cocaine trade and gave orders for murder in the underworld. Our own members were also not spared: if you talk, you go, was the macabre motto.
The Marengo trial ultimately got started because of someone who decided to talk: key witness B. He reported to the justice department in 2017 to make a deal. That was not without consequences: a year later his brother Reduan was shot dead. B.’s lawyer Wiersum was murdered in 2019 and his confidante De Vries in 2021.
“He was the undisputed leader of the organization. He decided who would be killed and respected no one,” the judge said of Taghi. According to the judge, the fact that people around him hardly dare to talk indicates that the terror deployed by Taghi is working. And so society must be “maximally” protected against him.
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