Lawyer accused of conflict of interest in Holleeder case

An accusation of conflict of interest against Willem Holleeder's lawyer, Stijn Franken, will likely be discussed during a non-substantive hearing in the case against the top-criminal in the Amsterdam court on Tuesday, Telegraaf reports.

Holleeder's sisters Sonja and Astrid and his ex-girlfriend Sandra den Hartog lodged a complaint against Franken at the Bar Association in Amsterdam. According to their lawyer Wout Morra, the complaint involves a conflict of interest because Franken represented Den Hartog until the moment she testified against Holleeder. All three women gave incriminating testimony against the infamous criminal.

Franken agreed to have a different lawyer question Den Hartog as a witness in the Holleeder case, in an effort to avoid a conflict of interest. But according to the three women, the lawyer did not honor this agreement.

Holleeder is standing trial for his involvement in multiple assassinations. He is being prosecuted for his role in the deaths of Cor van Hout in 2003, Willem Endstra in 2004, Kees Houtman and John Mieremet in 2005 and Thomas van der Bijl in 2006. He is also facing charges for an attempted assassination on Mieremet in 2002.