Supreme Court upholds Willem Holleeder life sentence; Convicted in 6 assassinations

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands affirmed the life sentence that was imposed on Willem Holleeder when he was convicted and sentenced in a series of assassinations. The Court issued a ruling on Tuesday upholding the earlier verdict from the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

Holleeder, 65, was sentenced as the mastermind in the assassinations, which resulted in a total of six victims. Holleeder has always denied the accusations. The District Court of Amsterdam, and the Court of Appeal, declared it proven that Holleeder ordered the murders. The victims were Cor van Hout and Robert ter Haak in 2003, Willem Endstra in 2004, John Mieremet and Kees Houtman a year later, and Thomas van der Bijl in 2006.

Holleeder and his lawyers submitted the case to the Supreme Court in cassation. In those proceedings, they raised objections to the agreements made with two key informants who served as witnesses, Fred R. and Peter la S.

They also expressed their doubts about the reliability of a number of witnesses, including Holleeder's two sisters, Astrid. and Sonja. Both sisters and one of Holleeder's ex-girlfriends made crucial statements in their testimony against him, which led to intense debate and courtroom drama at the time.

The two key witnesses also played a leading role in another extensive trial, known by the randomly assigned name, the Passage trial. As part of the proceedings, Holleeder's criminal partner Dino Soerel was sentenced to life in prison. Passage also covered some of the same murders for which Holleeder stood trial.

In November, the Attorney General provided advice to the Supreme Court stating that the conviction should be upheld. The advice was not binding. She said the Amsterdam Court of Appeal extensively investigated the reliability of the witnesses. Additionally, the Supreme Court has already assessed the legality of the key witness deals in the Passage proceedings.

The court did not deviate from that in the Holleeder case. The Supreme Court ruling will likely be the final decision in the matter.