Ali B will not be present at the court’s ruling in his sexual offense case on Thursday. His lawyer Bart Swier informed this site on Monday afternoon. But Swier dismisses any suggestion that the rapper would flee from a possible prison sentence as ‘absolute nonsense’.
Swier leaves it open as to why Ali will not be there on Thursday. But the fact that the verdict, whether it is an acquittal or a conviction, will in any case have an emotional impact that Ali first wants to share with his family, ‘is an excellent analysis’, Swier agrees.
Ali B was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in March for two counts of rape (of the young woman Naomi and singer Ellen ten Damme) and one count of sexual assault (also of Naomi). In 2024, Ali was sentenced to two years, but he appealed. The Public Prosecution Service (which had then demanded three years) also appealed. 44-year-old Ali B says he is innocent.
It is striking that the Public Prosecution Service concludes on appeal that there is insufficient evidence of sexual assault against singer Jill Helena. During the first trial against Ali B, the Public Prosecution Service saw sufficient evidence, but the Haarlem court also ruled that there was insufficient evidence for that case.
Ali B will serve any prison sentence in any case, Bart Swier adds. It is occasionally suggested left and right that Ali B would flee if convicted, for example to Dubai or Morocco. Recently, Rutger Castricum suggested this again at Today Inside with the anecdote that Ali once told him ‘that he will certainly not sit down for something he has not done’. “It’s all absolute nonsense, he has his children here,” said Swier, who knows nothing about such a telephone conversation between his client and Castricum.
It is never entirely certain whether Ali B will actually not attend the verdict on Thursday. The rapper can and should always change his mind.
