Verdict in marathon Marengo organized crime trial delayed “several months”

The District Court in Amsterdam said on Wednesday that it expects the verdict in the extensive Marengo trial to be postponed by “several months.” The delay could be extended even furrther, but only if exceptional new circumstances arise. The court said it expects to announce a new ruling date in September.

The trial covers 11 different cases of assassinations, attempted murder, preparation of murder, and participation in an organized crime outfit. Initially, the court planned to rule on October 20, but earlier this month it became clear that that date will not be met. According to the court, this had to do with “the complexity of the deliberations in the various cases.”

However, the court rejected a request from the new lawyers of main suspect Ridouan Taghi, the alleged organized crime boss, to postpone the case for at least nine months. “The interests of the accused in such a long delay have less weight than the interests of completing the case in the first instance without further delay.” The new attorneys wanted to use the time to study the extensive case file.

Taghi was left without a lawyer after the arrest of his attorney, Inez Weski, in April. She is suspected of participating in a criminal organization engaged in international drug trafficking, money laundering and violating her duty of confidentiality. Weski is said to have shared information from Taghi with the outside world, even though he is being kept in restricted custody at the country’s most secure institution, EBI, in Vught. He is generally forbidden from being in communication with anyone other than his legal advisors.

The extensive Marengo criminal proceedings have been going on for more than five years, and it is now in its final phase. Prosecutors have made their sentence recommendations, including a life sentence for Taghi and five co-defendants, and their attorneys have already responded with their own arguments.

Many of the 17 suspects have been in pre-trial detention for a long time. Several had asked the court last week to end their pre-trial detention, especially now that it is unclear when the case will be concluded. The court rejected those requests on Wednesday. Various requests for further investigation, for example into the reliability of the prosecutor’s key witness, Nabil B., have also been rejected.

The Public Prosecution Service has relied heavily on statements made by its star witness. However, the defense attorneys have serious doubts about his reliability.