Convict in 2015 assassination released after identification of new suspect

One of three men convicted for the assassination of Sven Prins in 2015 was released from custody on Tuesday because the sentence he could get on appeal may be shorter than the time he already spent in custody. On Monday evening, the court in Den Bosch decided to release Sergio K. after a new suspect in the murder came into the picture. If the new suspect was the shooter in Prins's murder, Sergio K. is innocent, NU.nl reports.

Prins was gunned down in September 2015, shortly after a car chase. A car with three occupants was chasing the vehicle carrying Prins and another person, firing Kalashnikov machine guns at Prins. At one point, Prins got out of the vehicle and stumbled into a garden. One of the passengers in the other car shot him in the back and killed him.

Sergio K. and Xionel B. were both sentenced to 30 years in prison for Prins's murder. Jurandy T. received life in prison. All three appealed.

During an appeal hearing a month ago, someone from the public gallery yelled the name of Belgian man Hassan K. just after the Public Prosecutor demanded 30 years in prison against all three suspects. When the judges then asked whether Hassan K. was the shooter's name, Sergio K. confirmed it.

Jurandy T., who confessed to shooting the Kalashnikov at Prins, previously said that Sergio K. was not involved in the murder, saying that the third person was someone with a gap between his teeth. That fits Hassan K.'s description, the attorney general said in a hearing on Monday. Sergio K. himself never dared to name any names for fear of reprisals.

Mark Nillesen, the lawyer defending Sergio K., called for his client to be acquitted. "For a conviction of my client, Hassan K. must first be questioned. Otherwise, there will be an argument with the Supreme Court."

Both the Public Prosecutor and the defense asked that Hassan K. be interrogated. The court postponed its decision on that point. The ruling in the appeal case is on November 11.