The defense of the alleged human smuggler Kidane H. has succeeded in challenging the Overijsel court. The court’s recusal chamber has Wednesday announced that other judges must be appointed in the case of the Eritrean H. partly because of “fear of partiality”, can be read in the ruling.
Kidane H. is one of the main suspects in a large-scale Dutch investigation by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the Royal Military Police into human smuggling from Eritrea, via Libya, to Europe. According to the judiciary, he was part of a criminal organization that was guilty of large-scale human smuggling, extortion, sexual violence and abuse. Family members of Eritreans in the Netherlands were also extorted.
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Kidane H.’s lawyers submitted a request for recusal at the end of March because two of the three judges – including the chairman – previously ruled in the case against H.’s co-suspect Amanuel W.. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison in January 2026 as a result of the Dutch human smuggling investigation for extortion and human smuggling.
Because the same judges now also have to judge co-suspect H., according to his defense, “fear of bias” has arisen. The wrecking chamber in Overijssel is it at sometime and therefore new judges must be sought.
Delay
The Dutch investigation has been running since 2018. H. was detained in Ethiopia a few years ago to stand trial for human trafficking. But in February 2021, prior to a court hearing in the capital Addis Ababa, he fled. He was sentenced in absentia to life in prison.
The United Arab Emirates arrested him again in Sudan in early 2023. He was detained in Dubai on suspicion of money laundering until, after long negotiations, the Dutch authorities persuaded the Emirates to extradite him at the end of 2025.
The court had wanted to hear the case against co-suspects H. and W. at the same time, but because the extradition took so long, this could not go ahead. The recusal will likely prolong the case against Kidane. New judges must read the extensive file of more than 45,000 pages.
The next preliminary hearing would take place on May 18, but a spokesperson for the Overijssel court cannot yet say with certainty whether it will go ahead.
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