Ridouan Taghi moved to less secure cell; Housed with accomplice, Willem Holleeder

Ridouan Taghi was transferred to another, less secure section within the high-security prison in Vught at the end of July. He is now imprisoned in the same section that also houses his accomplice and right-hand man Saïd R. and notorious criminal kingpin Willem Holleeder, NOS reports.

In February, Taghi, Saïd R., and Mario R. were sentenced to life in prison in the Marengo trial involving six assassinations, four attempted killings, and plans to murder several others. The other 14 suspects in the case got sentences ranging from 21 months to 27 years in prison.

Taghi’s detention lawyer confirmed the transfer to NOS. He said he was surprised by it because the Public Prosecution Service (OM) typically advises keeping co-suspects separate and not placing them in the same complex while the trial is ongoing. Both Taghi and Saïd R. have appealed the life sentences against them.

The Vught prison had built an extra wing, the E1, especially for Taghi to serve his sentence completely isolated from the other prisoners. According to the broadcaster, his transfer may have to do with the arrival of his son, 23-year-old Faissal Taghi. He was extradited to the Netherlands at the end of July after being arrested in Dubai. The OM suspects Faissal of continuing his father’s criminal network.