Court to rule on father, brothers accused in honor killing of teen woman Ryan Al Najjar
Judges were set to rule on Monday on the case of the father and two brothers accused of the honor killing of 18-year-old Ryan Al Najjar from Joure, Friesland, whose body was found in a pond near Lelystad on May 28, 2024. Prosecutors demanded a 25-year prison term for her father, Khaled Al N., who is being tried in absentia, and 20 years behind bars for her brothers, Mohamed Al N., 23, and Muhanad Al N., 25.
Al Najjar was reported missing six days before she was found dead. When her body pulled from a watery area in the Oostvaardersplassen, investigators found her head wrapped tight, and her wrists and legs were bound with tape. Her death was ruled a drowning.
Authorities believe all three were angered that Al Najjar was choosing to live a more Western-influenced lifestyle, daring to have friends who are men, not always wearing a headscarf, and sharing her opinions on social media platforms. “Honor killings are completely unacceptable,” the prosecutor said during the trial. “This is a form of femicide.”
They said there was evidence to show all three were present at the crime scene. The night before she was killed, Al Najjar's brothers allegedly picked her up at a Rotterdam residence. Instead of bringing her home to Joure, they stopped on the way near Lelystad where their father was waiting, prosecutors alleged. “What must she have feared,” the prosecutor said. “In the middle of the night, in complete darkness, in a completely isolated place.”
Her father's DNA was found underneath her fingernails, investigators said. Additionally, chat messages intercepted and recovered by investigators were presented to the court, with text suggesting that they were actively involved.
The 53-year-old father fled the Netherlands soon after the murder by crossing the border into Germany, traveling to Turkey, and then continuing on to his home country of Syria. He sent messages to media outlets in the Netherlands to take sole blame for the murder, in an attempt to exonerate his two sons, who were arrested by police.
Meanwhile, the brothers have denied any involvement in the murder. They have implicated their father in the murder, and their other sisters testified on their behalf. They said the brothers protected the sisters from their father's outbursts.
Muhanad Al N.'s attorney said the situation was "unfair and unjust", and insisted their father acted alone. Prosecutors countered that the extensive forensic evidence shows that the brothers' were far more involved than they have claimed, and that the father's attempt to take responsibility should not be considered relevant by judges as he has not been available for interrogation.
Authorities in the Netherlands assist in protecting an average of five women annually who are at risk of becoming an honor killing victim. Al Najjar had been receiving additional security shortly before she was murdered. More than 600 women and girls were subjected to some form of abuse, assault, or murder in 2023 at the hands of male family members who thought their form of direct punishment would somehow repair family honor.
