Willem Holleeder accuses sister of sabotaging his trial

In court on Friday Willem Holleeder accused his sister Astrid of sabotaging the process of the criminal trial against him. "All this whining is not because of the magistrate or my lawyers, but Astrid. She wants to keep control", Holleeder said in the 10th pro-forma hearing in the lawsuit against him, AD reports.

Holleeder, best known as one of the men who kidnapped Freddy Heineken in the 80's, is on trial for his involvement in a number of 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.

During the pro-forma hearing, the Public Prosecutor reiterated his belief that Holleeder tried to hire people from prison to assassinate his sisters. A large part of the Public Prosecutor's case against Holleeder is based on testimony given by his two sisters and a former girlfriend.

The Public Prosecutor would like to question Holleeder's two sisters and ex-girlfriend in court at a later stage, while Holleeder and his lawyers want this to happen in front of a magistrate as soon as possible. According to Holleeder and his lawyers, questioning the women as soon as possible means there is less chance for them to get together and coordinate their stories.

"Astrid wants to maintain control and she is now trying that again. If Sonja is questioned by the magistrate before Astrid, she can't prepare her or it." Holleeder said on Friday. He accused his sisters of lying and "making a media hype, along with Peter de Vries." He called Astrid's book Judas a "guide for witnesses".