On Wednesday, the national public prosecutor’s office sent a number of new documents to the Amsterdam court and the defense in the Marengo criminal case. According to the court, it is not yet clear whether these documents will have consequences for the course of the criminal case against Ridouan Taghi and co-suspects.
Nabil B.
This concerns four official reports about the contents of three PGP telephones, the stored information of which has recently been (further) decrypted. These telephones were used by suspects in the Marengo trial, including key witness Nabil B..
Furthermore, the Public Prosecution Service recently received documents from the Moroccan authorities of a witness hearing. The Public Prosecution Service has not revealed who.
The addition to the file has been sent to the court and the lawyers in the Marengo trial.
Delay
There has been a lifelong demand against Taghi and some other suspects for some time. The court would rule against Ridouan Taghi and the sixteen co-suspects on February 27.
The court therefore now doubts whether further postponement is necessary.
Taghi’s new lawyers resigned from the defense, partly because, according to them, the court gave them insufficient time to read and prepare. The court rejected their claims.
Not acting as a lawyer
In a response, Taghi’s three lawyers stated that they will not act as lawyers for Ridouan Taghi.
Arthur van der Biezen, Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen and Michael Ruperti said in a statement: ‘Actually, this new situation is not much different from the situation that occurred before. In order to understand the new reports in the light of Ridouan Taghi’s accusations, it is necessary to take note of the Marengo Dossier. The court has informed us time and time again that new developments were no reason for Taghi’s lawyers to seriously participate. The court has made it very clear to us that we will not be given the opportunity to review the extensive file. The court only saw a role for us as a mock defense. We thanked you for that role. And we will continue to do that.’
