Women hear details of sister's femicide in court for first time; Prosecutor apologizes

Two sisters of the woman killed in Hoofddorp on April 15 were unexpectedly confronted with details about their sister’s violent end in the Alkmaar court on Monday. When presenting the charges against suspect Mustafa A. (34) at the start of the first preliminary hearing in the case, the prosecutor revealed that the woman had been stabbed in the head and neck with a knife and that her throat had been slit.

The hearing was the first time the woman’s sisters heard these details. They naturally responded emotionally. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said afterwards that the prosecutors “should have handled that differently.”

A. allegedly killed the woman in a home on Liesbos in Hoofddorp where they lived together. The police arrested the man shortly after the crime. He is in pre-trial detention in a penitentiary psychiatric center and was not at the hearing.

Nadia Amine, the lawyer representing the victim’s two sisters, was outraged. “It would have been very nice if we had some information beforehand,” Amine said, so that her clients could have been prepped for the gruesome details of their sister’s deaths. “This way, it had an even greater impact on my clients. Their suffering is immense; they really need answers to the questions they have.”

She has received an apology from the public prosecutor. The lawyer does not yet have a case file, as the two sisters still need to be questioned as witnesses. The police investigation is nearing completion. The investigation into A.'s mental state is still ongoing.

The murdered woman was a young mother of two children who was “very well loved,” Amine said. She describes the murder as “a pure case of femicide.” A. allegedly isolated the woman, among other things. “All the flags were red,” the lawyer said.

The next hearing is on October 12.