Ridouan Taghi has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The court in Amsterdam decided this on Tuesday. The verdict is still in progress. That punishment is equal to the demand of the Public Prosecution Service.
The court also imposes life sentences on two others. This concerns Mario R. and Saïd Razzouki, who previously agreed to the use of his full surname. Razzouki and R. were tried because of their important role in the preparations for liquidations.
Mohammed Razzouki, Saïd’s brother, and Mao R., Mario R.’s brother, were also sentenced to life in prison, but the court imposed a lower sentence on them. Mohammed Razzouki receives a prison sentence of 27 years and eight months. Mao R., according to the Public Prosecution Service one of Taghi’s most important accomplices, must go to prison for 15 years and 8 months. According to the court, there is insufficient evidence for Mao R.’s role in the murder of spy shop employee Ronald Bakker. According to the court, there is also insufficient evidence for his role in two attempted murders in Zoetermeer.
Key witness Nabil B. received a prison sentence of 10 years. His sentence was reduced in exchange for the testimony he gave. The court says it considers these testimonies to be reliable, especially when it concerns events that B. himself was present at.
The Marengo Process
The ruling comes almost six years after the first public hearing in March 2018. A total of seventeen suspects are on trial in the Marengo trial, for six murders, four attempted murders and a number of preparations. In addition to Taghi, five co-suspects have been sentenced to life in prison. One of them was on trial for, among other things, his involvement in the murder of crime journalist Martin Kok in 2016. The claim against the other four was mainly based on the role they played in the preparations for the murders.
The Public Prosecution Service demanded sentences of between almost six and 26 years in prison for the other ten suspects. Taghi himself is not present in court. He also has no lawyer.
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