Dutchman murdered in Bali a convicted drug criminal: report
The Dutchman who was stabbed to death in front of his villa in Bali on Monday is likely the previously convicted drug criminal René P., AD reports. According to the newspaper, his name and age from previous publications by AD and Omrop Fryslân match exactly with the data from the Indonesian police.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the newspaper that it knew about the Dutchman’s death, but could make no further statements. The Ministry is ready “to provide consular assistance to the next of kin if there is a need for it.”
Two men attacked P. at around 10:00 p.m. on Monday while he was standing outside his villa with a female acquaintance. The woman told the police that she saw two men on a scooter behaving suspiciously. They turned around and attacked P. with a knife.
The woman fled and managed to get away after a brief chase. When she returned to the villa, she found P. badly injured. He succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
According to the local police, P. had deep cuts and stab wounds all over his body. The murder weapon broke during the attack, and the blade was found at the crime scene. P.’s valuables - his phone and jewelry - were also left behind, indicating that this was not a robbery turned murder.
The Indonesian police suspect P.’s murder was a targeted assassination. They have launched a manhunt for the two suspects. “This case is a priority for us,” said Joseph Edward Purba, the highest-ranking police chief in the Badung region.
According to AD, an assassination would fit seamlessly with P.’s criminal past if he turns out to be the same man. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2005 for trafficking hard drugs. He escaped during weekend leave a year into his sentence and was on the run until 2011, when he was arrested abroad. He served the rest of his sentence and was then released.
According to the newspaper, the Dutch authorities had P. on their radar as a possible key witness in the Passage trial on several underworld assassinations in Amsterdam.
