Manodj B. (43) is going to the Supreme Court to challenge his conviction. This is what his lawyer Theo Hiddema told NH. Last week, 43-year-old Horinees was also sentenced to 15 years in prison on appeal for stabbing Sumanta Bansi to death. The woman with whom he had a secret affair and who was pregnant by him.
On February 18, 2018, the two had an argument with each other. According to Manodj B. about money she allegedly stole from him. Opinions differ about what happened next. B. stated that it was Sumanta (22) who grabbed a knife and waved it close to his body. During a struggle he manages to get hold of the knife and stabs her. In self-defensehe said.
A story that is not accepted by the Public Prosecution Service. And the chairman of the court in Amsterdam also calls the statement unbelievable. “He said that she had the knife in her hands and accidentally stabbed her during a struggle. The fact that she has multiple stab wounds makes that story very unlikely. He also lied in his statements before and that makes him unreliable.”
B. was therefore also sentenced on appeal to 15 years in prison for manslaughter. Immediately after the verdict, lawyer Theo Hiddema had his doubts about the verdict. “You cannot say after a 15-year sentence: never mind. My client says it is self-defense, so you have to continue.”
Doubts about the court’s technical judgment
He has now discussed the case with B. and his cassation specialist Gerard Spong, and they have come to the conclusion that he will go to the Supreme Court. He no longer judges the substance of the case, but only checks whether the law has been applied correctly.
And the lawyer sees possibilities in this. According to the court, there is sufficient technical evidence that there can be no question of a struggle in which B. stabbed in self-defense. But Hiddema doubts whether the evidence has been properly examined technically.
Sumanta family shocked by cassation
Sumanta’s family is shocked that B. is appealing the case. They were disappointed anyway that he was not convicted of murder, and thought the sentence was too light. Nevertheless, they hoped to find some form of peace five years after her death. “He is a murderer, but we have to accept it now. What else can we do?” said mother Sharmila Nanda after the verdict.
“This is terrible for the family,” their lawyer Maartje Schaap responds. “The matter is not yet final and they cannot proceed further.” It is not yet known when the case will be heard by the Supreme Court.
What is cassation?
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the Netherlands. The purpose of cassation is not to re-examine the facts of the case, but to check whether the law has been correctly applied by the lower courts. If it is judged that this is not the case, the Supreme Court can annul the decision of the lower court and/or refer the case back to a lower court.
View the report below on the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal on appeal.