Uncertainty remains if Dutch suspects in fatal assault in Spain will be prosecuted in NL

It is still not yet certain that the group of Dutchmen from Gooi responsible for the fatal assault of a 27-year-old man from Waddnixveen in Mallorca on July 14 will be prosecuted in the Netherlands.

Earlier this week, the Dutch Public Prosecution Services (OM) had announced that the suspects will be prosecuted in the Netherlands. The OM had stated that the documents would be translated into Dutch within the upcoming two weeks. This statement stood in contradiction to claims the OM made earlier, in which they stated that the lawsuit should take place in Spin because the legal order there had also been “disrupted”.  

Yet, according to the Head of the Prosecution Services for the Balearic Islands Bartolomé Barceló, it is not yet set in stone that Spain will transfer the criminal case. “However, everything points towards the Netherlands”, Barceló said, according to the Volkskrant. “Of course, you have to look at which country is best able to prosecute these suspects."

A group of 13 Dutch tourists between the ages of 18 to 20 attacked five other Dutch tourists. All five were injured, including the 27-year-old victim who was sent to the ICU. The victim suffered severe brain damage and ultimately, succumbed to his injuries on July 18. On July 16, Spanish authorities arrested one Dutch suspect when he handed over the keys to the house the group had rented. The rest of the group departed to the Netherlands.

The group of young Dutch young people could face charges of murder or manslaughter in Spain