The similarities between the former Polish supermarkets in Aalsmeer and Beverwijk are numerous: they have the same owners, bombs went off in December 2020, they were closed by order of the mayor, the buildings are still empty and a restart of the supermarkets is envisaged. rather not. Meanwhile, yesterday during a court hearing of one of the suspects it became clear that it is not yet completely ruled out that the owners themselves have something to do with the explosions.
This became clear when lawyer Veerle Hammerstein of suspect Hyron A. (20) asked the judges to question the owners as witnesses during the substantive process. These include the brothers Mohamed and Moshkal Mahmoed. Her client now has a ton of claim from the brothers hanging on his pants.
But in the meantime, it cannot be ruled out at all that one or more of the owners of the four supermarkets where bombs went off in December 2020 are themselves involved in the explosions at Polish supermarkets. There were two explosions in Beverwijk, and one in Aalsmeer as well as Tilburg and Heeswijk-Dinther.
DNA on tape with explosive
Yesterday it became clear that the DNA of one of the owners (but not the Mahmoed brothers) was found on tape that was found near an explosive device in Beverwijk on December 12.
The public prosecutor called the theory mood-making. The fact that someone in the file puts forward a theory about the case says nothing about its validity, she argued. She also disputed that the DNA find was new information.
Theories
Moreover, there would be more theories in the file: that Hyron A., who al has confessed to being responsible for three explosionsplayed an even bigger role in the incidents, or whether there would be competition between supermarket owners, or whether it was about taking insurance money, for example.
More will have to become clear during the substantive session, but that will not be until February or next year. For the judges, Hammerstein’s argument was in any case sufficient to grant her wish to be able to question the supermarket owners.
‘Not a Polish supermarket’
The affected buildings in the Beverhof and Beverwijk shopping center and those in Aalsmeer are still empty. The space in Beverwijk has recently become available for rent again. According to Hans Visser of the VVE Beverwijk Centrum, the lease with the Mahmoed brothers was dissolved a few months ago.
“Now another store can go in, but I don’t think it will be a Polish supermarket,” he says.
squabble
In Aalsmeer, according to the spokeswoman for mayor Gido Oude Kotte, “legal squabbles between the landlord and the supermarket owners are still going on.”
According to real estate agent in Aalsmeer Karin Eveleens, the property is in any case not yet for rent on the market. “And it also needs to be completely refurbished. It is still empty, and it looks very desolate.”
The Mahmoed brothers, who both rented properties, declined to comment in the media while the trial is underway.
Free for the time being
The judge also decided today that Hyron A. may await the substantive hearing on conditional release. “By the time the substantive trial begins, my client will have been incarcerated for nearly two years,” Hammerstein argued in court. “That is undesirable for someone who may be tried as a minor.” The court will determine later whether that will actually happen. It is certain that he will then be tried together with six other co-defendants of various explosions.