Lawyer says Ali B will appeal any sentence, rapper could face 3 years in prison

The court will rule on July 12 in the sexual offense case against Ali B. The chairman said the judges want to take their time to reach a verdict on Friday evening at the end of a long day of hearings.

However, Ali B will appeal if he is convicted, his lawyer Bart Swier said on Friday evening on the talk show Renze. According to Swier, the Public Prosecution Service was prepared for a prison sentence. The lawyer also said that the demand was "not too bad". However, there is no relief, Swier responded to a question from presenter Renze Klamer. "No, not at all, because Ali denies all the facts. To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered much whether it had been six months or six years. He will appeal every sentence," Swier said.

Ali B was on trial for three days at the court in Haarlem. The 42-year-old rapper is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault against three women - Naomi, the former The Voice participant Jill Helena, and singer Ellen ten Dam, NU.nl reports.

According to the OM, Ali B attacked all three women in the same way. He pinned them down "against a wall, a bed, or a car door so that they couldn't leave." The incidents happened in the evening or at night and in a place where the women were dependent on him, "a place where they did not feel at home."

The Public Prosecution Service demanded a three-year prison sentence against the rapper on Friday. Then, the lawyers made their case. The parties could not conclude the sexual offense case on Thursday, after which the court decided to extend the case by one day. The third day of the hearing ended at 7 p.m.

During the court case, lawyer Michael Ruperti admitted to having called Ellen ten Damme's lawyer on behalf of Ali B. On Saturday, he said that he was "not sufficiently aware" that his call could have an intimidating effect on the singer, who claims to have been raped by the rapper in 2014. Ruperti and victim advocate Ruth Jager made this known in a joint statement on Saturday, emphasizing "that the call in question was not made in a coercive or even intimidating manner."

In the statement, Ruperti confirmed that he had called Ellen ten Damme's lawyer at the request of Ali B., who was on trial last week for raping the singer. Hunter announced on Friday during her plea in the vice case. In it, she hinted that Ruperti had told her on behalf of Ali B that it would be better for Ten Damme if she withdrew her testimony in the criminal case. This immediately caused a stir, as Ruperti contradicted this on LinkedIn.

"The reason Mr. Ruperti contacted Mr. Jager was that he wanted to smooth over a complex criminal case. He did so with the best of intentions and did not intend to put anyone under pressure," the lawyers wrote in their statement.

Ten Damme reported a rape to the police in Morocco in 2014. She did not press charges, but the public prosecutor's office decided to prosecute the rapper anyway.

"Ruperti was not sufficiently aware that his demand could have an intimidating effect on Ellen ten Damme, Hunter's client, because he did not know the file's contents," the lawyers wrote. They also argue that this was not addressed in the conversation. "Ruperti was, therefore, not aware of this."

Ali B.'s lawyer in the Sitte case, Bart Swier, also responded to the statement on Saturday evening. He emphasized that his client had never asked Ruperti to ensure that Ten Damme's statement was removed. "Nothing along those lines," he said. Swier calls this a "damaging communication" for his client. Jager maintains that her speech in court on Friday was an accurate rendition of the conversation and is also the essence of the press release she issued with Ruperti on Saturday.