Brothers on trial for honor killing of sister Ryan Al Najjar; Father still a fugitive
Today, the trial starts against Mohamed (23) and Muhanad Al N. (25), suspected of involvement in the honor killing of their 18-year-old sister, Ryan. Their father, Khaled al-N., is the main suspect in his daughter’s brutal death, but is still a fugitive and living in Syria. He will be tried in absentia.
Ryan disappeared from her family home in Joure on May 22, 2024. Her body was found by a passerby in a swamp in Lelystad on May 28, a week after her disappearance. Investigation revealed that the young woman was gagged and tied up, and thrown into the water to drown. Her father’s DNA was found under her fingernails.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) determined that Ryan’s murder was an honor killing. According to the OM, the three men killed the 18-year-old woman because she was dating, behaved too “Western,” and “shamed” her family.
Her brothers blame their father for her death. The man allegedly sent two emails to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, confessing to his daughter’s murder and saying that his sons were not involved.
But the OM does not believe that version of events. According to the prosecutor, Khaled al-N. Enlisted his sons to pick Ryan up, drive her to a remote location, and throw her weighted body into the water. They did so knowing that their sister would not survive.
Ryan’s brothers were arrested soon after her body was found and have been in custody since. Their father is still at large.
According to Nieuwsuur, Khaled al N. is living in northern Syria and has even remarried since his daughter’s murder. The Ministry of Justice and Security told the program that there’s little that the Netherlands can do to get him here for his trial. “The possibilities for criminal cooperation with Syria are currently not available,” the Ministry said in writing. “The criminal justice authorities required for this cooperation are not (yet) operational in Syria.”
The Syrian Ministry of Justice disagreed with that statement when asked. “That may have been the case in the beginning when the regime had just fallen. Now the Syrian justice system has been fully restored. We are ready,” Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais told the Dutch current affairs program. He said that Syria has received three requests for legal assistance from European countries so far. “We will provide the necessary legal assistance in accordance with the regulations.”
The Syrian Minister said that he has not received any requests for legal assistance from the Netherlands.
