The police and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) have repeatedly been warned about revenge actions by the gang around Ridouan Taghi, but due to ‘system errors’ this did not lead to better protection of Peter R. de Vries, lawyer Derk Wiersum and the brother of star witness Nabil B.
That is according to RTL News in a draft report of the Dutch Safety Board (OVV). ‘Relevant signals have not always found their way’, the editors quote from the preliminary research report. In it, the OVV describes in detail what contacts there were between security officers from various government services and the three targets in the run-up to their deaths. “This shows several system errors.”
‘For example, that the information service of the police (DRIO) only accepted ‘verifiable information’ for a higher level of security of those involved in the Marengo process. ‘Soft’ information, such as warnings from Nabil B.’s family that Taghi’s gang visited them at home and that lawyer Wiersum was being observed, did not lead to better security,’ according to the news channel.
‘Even crucial clues from the criminal investigation department were not seen by the teams that made the threat analyses. “This is the result of silos within the police (…) as a result of which the exchange of information between police units is difficult or impossible.” ‘Silos’ refers to compartmentalisation, units that are working on the same subject but do not know about each other.’
In particular, the security and information branch of the police, responsible for making threat assessments, was said to have turned a deaf ear to warnings of the violence from the Taghi gang. “The report also confirms what Nabil B.’s family has been saying for years: their warnings of revenge from Taghi have not been taken seriously. In addition, crucial instructions from other departments within the police were not seen in time by the officials responsible for the Surveillance & Security system.’
No comment
The Dutch Safety Board does not want to comment. “We never do that with a draft report,” a spokeswoman told this news site. “We will come out with a report as soon as that is completed.”
The OVV is investigating which mistakes were made in the (arrangements about) security around the three men who were murdered in the margins of the Marengo trial. Crown witness Nabil B. testifies in that trial about the criminal organization of Ridouan Taghi. His testimony is so dangerous that his brother, his former lawyer Derk Wiersum and his confidant Peter R. de Vries were murdered.
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