The Public Prosecution Service is appealing against seven of the nine suspects in the Mallorca case. That made the OM announced Thursday. Justice believes that after the lawsuit, which was completed two weeks ago, the “process of finding the truth is not yet complete”.
The case concerned a series of violent incidents during a night out on the Spanish island of Mallorca. A Hilversum group of friends got involved in several fights on the night of July 13, 2021. Carlo Heuvelman, 27, was kicked to death in a fight with the group, other victims were seriously injured. Before Heuvelman’s death, one of the nine suspects, Sanil B., was convicted of manslaughter. He received seven years in prison.
Read also Focus on the group violence in the Mallorca case means a hammer blow for the suspects
The court decided not to convict any of the other seven group members for manslaughter, including main suspects Mees T. and Sanil B. However, seven of the group members were given unconditional prison sentences because of the group violence, and one of them was acquitted. During the verdict, the judge already announced that not only Sanil B. is responsible for Heuvelman’s death. The court decided to focus on the group violence, not on individual actions during the violent incidents.
Group violence
The OM does not agree with that. On appeal, the court must further investigate who played what role in Heuvelman’s death. The Public Prosecution Service and the court think that “one or more of the suspects should have more knowledge about the facts charged than has been shared so far”. New statements and other information may lead to clarity during the appeal, says the OM.
Several convicts also appealed against the verdict. Because the court placed more emphasis on group violence than on individual actions, the sentences of group members who played a relatively minor role in the violent incidents turned out to be much higher than the Public Prosecution Service had demanded.
“It was a massive short-term outburst of violence by a group of suspects against victims,” the judge said during the verdict. “One perpetrator of violence felt strengthened by the other, and that allowed escalation to take place.” For other violent offenders, including Sanil B., the punishment was relatively light.