Lawyers Flokstra and Meijering sounded the alarm on Monday about the unworkable situation for lawyers in the mega Marengo process. The arrest of colleague Inez Weski is yet another proof that their position is under increasing pressure. They call on the court to send a signal to the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
At Monday’s hearing, the court itself did not comment on Weski’s arrest. The program included the last word of suspect Mohamed R. His lawyers, Nico Meijering and Christian Flokstra, did refer to the arrest of Weski, who assisted prime suspect Ridouan Taghi. “It came as a shock,” said Flokstra. “A new black page has been added to the book Marengo. And that affects the rule of law, the criminal justice system and the criminal legal profession. That is worrying.”
Flokstra also recalls how his colleague Nico Meijering and lawyer Leon van Kleef were previously followed to Dubai. The OM thought – wrongly – that they would meet Ridouan Taghi there. According to him, the lawyers are increasingly being hindered by the Public Prosecution Service and the alarm is ringing: “Everything is apparently permitted. Something will have to change. Otherwise we cannot continue to fulfill the role of lawyer.”
Flokstra is particularly critical of the deployment of a key witness, resulting in ‘uncontrollable risks and misery’. After the Public Prosecution Service announced in 2018 that Nabil B. was a key witness, three murders were committed. The victims were the brother of the crown witness, the lawyer of the crown witness Derk Wiersum and the confidant of the crown witness, Peter R. de Vries.
Nevertheless, according to Flokstra, the Public Prosecution Service stoically holds on to the key witness as ‘the holy grail’ in the investigation. “In fact, the minister still wants an expansion of the crown witness scheme. It is no longer workable,” he calls on the court to send a signal.
Arrest Weski
Inez Weski (68) was arrested on April 21 on suspicion of participation in a criminal organization around Ridouan Taghi. She is said to have smuggled out information from her client from the Extra Secure Institution (EBI) in Vught. Weski is still in custody after her pretrial detention was extended by 30 days at the beginning of this month.
Her arrest forced Weski to lay down Taghi’s defense. He then announced that he is doing his own defense for the time being. Taghi has already had the rejoinder and the last word. The court is likely to consider it on Wednesday. The court still has the option to assign a lawyer to Taghi, who is still looking for counsel.
There is one more thing that the court has to decide on regarding Taghi. Just before her arrest, Weski did make research wishes on his behalf. For example, she wanted to hear ex-commando Sil A. as a witness: he claimed that during meetings the possibility of ‘turning off’ Taghi had been discussed. If the court grants that, the question is whether Taghi will hear the witness himself.
In addition to Taghi, Weski also assisted the brothers Mao and Mario R. Like Taghi, a life sentence has been demanded against them. Mao would still be assisted by Weski’s law firm, Mario R. is still looking for a new lawyer. This means that there are currently three protagonists without defense. Because in addition to Taghi and Mario R., crown witness Nabil B. is also without lawyers. Peter Schouten and Onno de Jong decided in March to no longer assist him.
The Marengo mega trial revolves around the alleged organization of main suspect Ridouan Taghi, which is linked to six murders and four attempted murders.
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