At the beginning of this year, a filmmaker who is also a reserve officer was fined 100 euros for ‘military joyriding’. The man had privately used an army truck against the rules to bring some children’s bicycles to Afghan refugees. Not a big issue, but several media reported about it. The filmmaker’s counsel then wrote on his LinkedIn page: “‘Everything of value is defenseless.’ This statement is worthless.”
The issue is characteristic of criminal lawyer Michael Ruperti, who may succeed his colleague Inez Weski as Ridouan Taghi’s counsel in the Marengo trial. In any case, he will set up a team of lawyers for Taghi’s defense, he says The Telegraph. He is not the lawyer who goes through jurisprudence in the silence of the study for a cassation case, but the street fighter who fights publicly for his client. By generating a lot of attention in the media, with which he maintains excellent ties. And often with big words, such as about the filmmaker: “Remains the noble deed of […]. It is and will remain invaluable.”
Read also: Suspect lawyer Inez Weski released by court
Ruperti has mainly made a name for himself by assisting defense employees, who may or may not have criminal conflicts with the Ministry of Defense. For example, he was the counsel of military personnel who were suspended because they were said to be members of criminal motorcycle clubs. One of his clients was acquitted and allowed to return to work at the defense. When CDA parliamentarian Raymond Knops expressed his displeasure about this, Ruperti attacked him hard on his “stupid and insulting statements”.
Veteran
Born in Amsterdam, he studied law and graduated in criminal law before becoming a lawyer in the armed forces. He did officer training and worked for years at the public prosecutor’s office in Arnhem, where he advised the public prosecutor on military criminal cases. In 2004 he went as legal adviser (legad) to Bosnia, where Dutch soldiers helped build the rule of law. When he started as a lawyer in 2007, he did so as a veteran. Ruperti is therefore often the first name that comes to mind when people collide with defense.
This applies not only to Defense employees, but also to their families. For example, Ruperti is the counsel for the relatives of the soldiers who were killed in Mali by a prematurely exploded mortar shell. The affair cost former Minister Jeanine Hennis (Defense, VVD) and Chief of the Armed Forces, Tom Middendorp, their jobs. That is not enough for the next of kin: they want those responsible to be prosecuted.
Ruperti has mainly made a name for himself by assisting defense employees
The constant fight of Ruperti and his clients against defense seems to be increasingly eroding the trust of the lawyer in the institutions. He regularly makes cynical remarks, such as about the filmmaker’s verdict: “It will all be correct legally, but morally speaking it is a wet fart in a fishnet.”
Political ambitions
His social dissatisfaction is also reflected in his political ambitions. In 2020 he ran for leadership of Forum for Democracy. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, he was a candidate for Oprecht, the party of an entrepreneur in Zwijndrecht. “The affair with the childcare allowance at the Tax Authorities has shown how parents have to fight against the big government,” he explained this step to the AD.
Read also: Lawyer: ‘Commandos spoke about eliminating Taghi in Iran or Dubai’
Ruperti’s waning faith in the rule of law came to light recently in a criminal case against a commando suspected of collaborating with an accomplice of Taghi. According to Ruperti, his client has just carried out secret operations for the Dutch state, in which the liquidation of Taghi has been discussed. Ruperti told that in court, in interviews and then “the whole story” again in a podcast, but the judge did not allow intelligence officials to testify. He then stopped defending “one of the most experienced and decorated soldiers of an elite unit in our country,” he wrote, because “the rules of a fair trial are increasingly being violated.”
This post has been edited to clarify Ruperti’s role in Taghi’s defense.
A version of this article also appeared in the June 8, 2023 issue.