Authorities failed in not institutionalizing man before Hague supermarket murder: report
The murder of Albert Heijn employee Antoneta Gjokja in The Hague last year could have been prevented if the Dutch authorities had murderer Jamel L. institutionalized as Curacao requested in 2021, the Telegraaf reports from a report by the Justice and Security Inspectorate on the handling of L.
The report called it an “inimitable decision” by then-Legal Protection Minister Sander Dekker not to take over L.’s court-ordered institutionalized psychiatric treatment, called a TBS- measure in the Netherlands, from Curacao.
On June 20 last year, Jamel L. walked into an Albert Heijn and stabbed Antoneta Gjokja (36) to death. The police arrested L, immediately after the murder and the court sentenced him to 10 years in prison and TBS in April. He appealed against the ruling, but the appeal hasn’t appeared in court yet.
The Justice and Security Inspectorate launched an investigation into L.’s handling soon after the attack because he was known to have a criminal record, including a previous conviction of attempted murder. He was also known to have mental health problems.
On 21 March 2018, the man was sentenced to TBS in Curacao for multiple crimes. However, the island does not have a TBS clinic and could not provide him with the right treatment. Curacao, therefore, asked Minister Dekker for Legal Protection to institutionalize L. in the Netherlands. The Minister denied this request, a decision the Inspectorate called incomprehensible and blamed on the involved authorities working past, instead of with each other.
According to the Inspectorate, the relevant organizations within the Judicial Institutions Agency (DJI) did not receive any information about the request to institutionalize L. or about his background. As a result, the DJI was unable to make a proper risk assessment and devise appropriate interventions.
L. came to the Netherlands at the end of 2021, after his TBS measure had expired. He went into custody upon arrival to serve an outstanding prison sentence. After, he spent time in Zwijndrecht, Middleburg, and The Hauge, among other places. He was arrested twice for misconduct and repeatedly refused to be admitted for treatment.
Again, the involved care organizations and DJI knew little about L.’s past and failed to intervene.
“The organizations involved did not do enough to get and keep Jamel L. in the picture,” the Inspectorate said in its as-yet-unpublished report, which was forwarded to the Telegraaf. His criminal record was incomplete and none of the organizations involved had full access to the relevant information about the man.
The Inspectorate also raised concerns about how authorities in different regions worked together. “The possibilities and urgency for implementing interventions disappeared in many cases when L. was no longer in the organization’s region,” the Inspectorate said.
The Inspectorate’s report will officially be published later on Monday. A report by the Attorney General at the Supreme Court on this same case is also expected on Monday.
