The court in The Hague has acquitted a suspect because it did not find it proven that he was the person who talked about drug trafficking in conversations via a crypto telephone.
by Joost van der Wegen
Trade
Justice found that the suspect was guilty of trafficking in cocaine, MDMA, crystal meth and GHB over a period of three years. In chats via the encrypted server Sky ECC, the police could also read that the owner of the account also purchased larger quantities. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded a prison sentence of 28 months for this.
Counselor Deen from The Hague previously demanded acquittal for her client.
Reference
The court has now established that the accounts belonged to the suspect, because he talked about, among other things, a motorcycle that his partner had registered in his name. A reference to a gate, with the address where the suspect lives, was also correct.
But the court also sees that a few account names that express the user’s appearance do not match his appearance. Namely a white man with a slim build. There are also a number of chats in Polish, even though the suspect does not speak Polish. He was also not in Spain when someone reported on the account that he was there.
Acquittal
The court therefore pronounced an acquittal of preparatory acts for drug trafficking via Sky accounts. She cannot establish ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ that only the suspect was the user of Sky accounts, which means that ‘it cannot be proven that the suspect was also the user of the accounts at the times when drug trafficking was discussed’.
Read the ruling here.
