A Roosendaal commando who is a suspect in a major criminal case is said to have been asked by the judiciary about the possibility of ‘kidnapping’ Ridouan Taghi from Dubai. His lawyer told the military court in Arnhem on Monday.
Commando Sil A. (44) is suspected of smuggling 260 kilos of cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Denmark. He may have organized it from Roosendaal, the indictment states.
Weapons obscured
He is also said to have transferred or traded hundreds of machine guns, pistols and rifles, a helmet and a rifle scope from the Engelbrecht van Nassaukazerne in Roosendaal. This ’embezzlement as a civil servant’ would have happened in 2020 in Roosendaal.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, he also shared secret information about the working methods of commandos of the Commando Corps (KCT). It concerned photos of colleagues, information about exercises, code names and data about weapons.
Commando Sil A. denies the allegations. He is a sergeant major in the corps and lives in Rotterdam.
Friends
Sil A. came into the crosshairs of the Public Prosecution Service because an alleged accomplice of top criminal Ridouan Taghi had frequent contact with the command. The henchman and commando are childhood friends.
According to his lawyer Ruperti, A. was asked in 2019 by the secret services AIVD and MIVD whether it was possible to secretly get top criminal Taghi out of Dubai by commandos.
Secret operations
His lawyer Michael Ruperti asked the military court in Arnhem to hear witnesses from intelligence services AIVD and MIVD. According to the counsel, these interrogations should show that his client was often asked to carry out covert operations.
The contacts between the commando and the childhood friend would have to do with covert operations, he thinks. The OM sees it differently.
Witnesses from the intelligence services cannot be heard about this, the OM stated. The court therefore rejected that request. “That means I’m stuck and can’t defend my client like this,” Ruperti said. Counsel then decided to drop his client’s defense.
The case has now come to a standstill because A. is without a lawyer. The military chamber in Arnhem had set aside two days for the criminal case. The Gelderland court could not say when the case will resume.