Surprise witness says Amsterdam attorney Wiersum was to be kidnapped, not killed
A surprise witness came forward in the trial against Anouar Taghi (30) and Sezer B. (31), accused of preparing the murder of defense attorney Derk Wiersum. In a detailed email sent to the court and several involved lawyers on Thursday evening, the witness claims that Sezer B. was involved in a plot to abduct the defense attorney, not kill him. The witness also said they never actually encountered Wiersum, Parool reports.
Derk Wiersum was gunned down outside his home in the Buitenvelderd district of Amsterdam on 18 September 2019. He was representing Nabil B. at the time - the key witness in the Marengo assassination trial around Ridouan Taghi and his gang. The men who actually committed the assassination, Moreno B. and Giermo B., were sentenced to 30 years in prison on appeal earlier this year. This week, the Public Prosecution Service demanded 18 years in prison against Sezar B. and 26 years against Anouar Taghi for making preparations for Wiersum’s assassination.
According to the witness, who calls himself Mr. X, Sezer B. was absolutely not observing Wiersum with the aim of murdering him; he “did not collect any information to forward to the shooters, and Sezar did not provide any information to Anour,” he wrote in the email.
The witness claims he was with B. on this job, which was to abduct Wiersum so that key witness Nabil B. would take back his “statements and lies.” They were not supposed to kill Wiersum, he said. So B. and the witness waited at Wiersum’s office but never saw him there, and then waited at Wiersum’s home. They kept “posting” at the lawyer’s office and home “but missed him again and again,” the witness claims.
“How do I know this? I am the 2nd person who was with Sezar while posting. I was supposed to grab Wiersum while Sezar stayed in the car,” Mr. X wrote. “Pretty crazy; we would have kidnapped Wiersum, but we didn’t, and now Sezar is being prosecuted for murder with an 18-year sentence for a murder he had nothing to do with.”
According to Mr. X, the case against Anour Taghi and Sezer B. is “a good story” that the police have “crafted” together. “But it is nonsense. Zezar has nothing to do with the death of Wiersum. 18 years, the man has lost both parents and takes care of his brother and grandparents. Anouar too, 26 years, completely sick.”
Mr. X claims he can substantiate his claims with decrypted GPG messages, including messages that he sent to Ridouan Taghi, Anouar’s uncle and the prime suspect in the Marengo trial. “Check my story, and you will see it is correct.”
Anouar Taghi’s lawyers asked the court to halt the trial so that the OM could investigate the claims and draw up an official report. “The defense expects that the OM will investigate the origin of the email and the identity of the writer of this email. If more becomes known about this, the defense reserves the right to submit further investigation requests.”
When the court will decide on the matter is unclear.
