The pink elephant in the room? Shouldn’t we be talking about that, asks the court chairman on Wednesday morning in the case against Youssef T., the cousin and former lawyer of Ridouan Taghi. Prosecutors in charge of the investigation react somewhat perplexed: pink elephant?
The court chairman refers to an official report of 23 July 2021 in which relatives of Taghi are cited, quotes that according to the police are about Inez Weski. Reference is made, the court president quotes, to reports that Ridouan Taghi’s lawyer allegedly smuggled in and out information for her client at the most heavily guarded prison in the Netherlands, the Extra Secure Institution (Ebi) in Vught, via a USB stick.
The official report was only recently added to the expanding file on Youssef. And the court president can imagine that Youssef and his lawyers need an explanation.
Also read: Reports about the role of lawyer Inez Weski were the reason for the arrest of Ridouan Taghi .’s cousin
It comes from the Public Prosecution Service and from Inez Weski herself, who, in her own words, knew nothing about all this. Pretty soon after her name is mentioned in the courtroom, she says that she has never brought a USB stick into the EBI. “That is not possible at all,” says Weski. The Public Prosecution Service later stated that Weski was never considered a suspect.
According to the OM, Youssef acted as the contact person with the outside world for his cousin, who has been detained in the EBI since the end of 2019. According to the justice system, Youssef cooperated in a plan for Taghi’s escape and is also suspected of being involved in the attempted murder or serious assault of an ex-brother-in-law of Taghi.
Italian mafia boss
The official report of July 2021 summarizes the reason for the investigation under the name 26Mandel into a criminal organization that would be led by Ridouan Taghi while he was in prison.
Youssef is a member of that organization according to this document. The document is the basis for the permission of the investigating judge to listen in on the conversations between Taghi and his cousin and lawyer Youssef in the EBI. A very exceptional and sensitive investigation, because contact between suspect and lawyer is confidential.
But there are even more sensitive matters in this report. According to the OM, a number of relatives of Ridouan Taghi are also members of that criminal organization, just like Raffaele Imperiale, a prominent Italian mafia boss who has previously been linked to Taghi. But they are not being prosecuted in this case.
‘panic’
The messages about Weski were sent by relatives of Taghi from the beginning of 2020 and include the possibility of establishing contact between Ridouan Taghi and Rafaele Imperiale. These messages were sent using crypto telephones from the Canadian company Sky Ecc, which are popular in the criminal environment. Sky’s messaging service was hacked in February of 2021, so that detectives could read messages live.
Sky will be dismantled in March 2021 after an investigation lasting about two years. After that, the Dutch police will also have access to the messages.
In it, Taghi’s relatives speak of ‘the advo’ who is said to communicate poorly because she is ‘panic’. Later it is stated that “she” has nevertheless accepted to enter with a “USB stick”. The police seem to conclude from those messages that Weski was sent on the road with a USB stick. “It cannot be otherwise than that this happened through Master Weski,” the conclusion reads in the official report.
It cannot be otherwise than that this happened through Master Weski,
Conclusion official report
The Public Prosecution Service does not follow that conclusion. According to the prosecutors, the content of the messages has been “checked” and it has not been established that Weski actually did what the messages claim.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, a “new lawyer” has been requested. A later message states that that lawyer is “family”. On that basis, the Public Prosecution Service concluded that it must be Youssef, after all, he is a cousin, is a lawyer and has had very frequent contact with Ridouan Taghi since March 2021.
Armed with that information, incorporated in the official report of July 23, 2021, the judiciary goes to an investigating judge with the request to listen in on conversations between Ridouan Taghi and his cousin Youssef in the EBI. After approval, listening devices will be installed from the end of August. If the sound recordings do not provide a definitive answer, cameras will also be installed. Images show how the cousins communicate with each other and about what.
It leads to the arrest of Youssef on October 8, in view of his cousin in the EBI in Vught. Inez Weski has not been spoken of in this regard since then, until the court names the pink elephant in the room.