Relative could get 7 years for attempt to break Ridouan Taghi out of prison

On Friday, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded seven years in prison against the ex-legal counsel and relative of the alleged criminal kingpin Ridouan Taghi. According to the OM, 39-year-old Youssef T. was fully involved in Taghi’s criminal organization. He was involved in a plot to break Taghi out of prison and assisted him as legal counsel for several months. Taghi (44) is in custody in the high-security prison in Vught. “Youssef was the indispensable link, the bottleneck, the unmissable second man,” the prosecutor said.

T. visited his imprisoned family member many times, starting in March 2021. After some time, it became clear that the two were discussing things very different from regular issues, the OM said. The authorities quietly launched an investigation and quickly discovered that Taghi discussed violent prison break plans, among other things, with T. According to the OM, if the planned prison break had actually been implemented, “it could not have happened without casualties.”

In an alternative escape plan, T. and Taghi discussed getting the address details of prison employees. “Terrifying,” said the prosecutor. “With this, more than these four people were in extreme danger.”

T. allegedly also smuggled numerous messages from Taghi out of prison and delivered messages to him from suspected accomplices outside the prison walls. In this way, Taghi could continue to manage his alleged criminal organization from inside his cell, the OM said.

The prosecutor spoke of a “disruptive” criminal case. “A legal counsel should be honest.”

Youssef T. has always denied playing the significant role the OM attributes to him. He says he was only an “errand boy.” He repeated this on Wednesday, during the first day of his trial in the Amsterdam court. He said he was sucked into Taghi’s criminal organization against his will. “Millimeter by millimeter,” he said, “it was an insidious poison.” He was under tremendous pressure and could see no way out.

The police arrested T. on October 8 last year during a visit to Taghi. He’s been in custody since. In the run-up to his arrest, the authorities secretly filmed and wiretapped several of T.’s visits to Taghi.

In June, the OM demanded life in prison against Taghi in the extensive Marengo assassinations trial. The court is expected to rule on that case next fall. The verdict in the case against Youssef T. is scheduled for January 23.