Police arrest Inez Weski, attorney to alleged crime lord Ridouan Taghi

Authorities in the Netherlands arrested prominent criminal defense attorney Inez Weski on Friday, according to De Telegraaf. Weski, who is from Rotterdam, is the long-time legal representative to the controversial former president of Suriname, Desi Bouterse, and is the attorney leading the defense of Ridouan Taghi, the alleged criminal underworld boss and primary defendant in the Marengo proceedings.

The Marengo trial is a sprawling criminal case covering a series of assassinations, attempted assassinations, and allegations of plans to commit murder. Taghi is one of several suspects on trial, along with Saïd R., his alleged top lieutenant. Prosecutors demanded life imprisonment against both men, while Weski called for an acquittal in her closing argument. A verdict is expected in October.

Weski's arrest followed an investigation into allegations that Taghi has been able to get messages out from prison to others who can carry out his bidding. He has been in restricted custody at the country's highest security prison in Vught ever since his extradition from Dubai, and has only been allowed contact with his legal representation.

Weski is suspected of acting as a conduit between Taghi and the outside world. Weski was taken to a police station after her arrest. She was being interrogated on Friday afternoon, the Telegraaf said. The Public Prosecution Service informed the head of the Dutch Bar Association that they would take her into custody.

She is the second attorney representing Taghi to be arrested for passing information on his behalf. Youssef T., also one of Taghi's family members, was arrested in October 2021 after working the alleged crime boss for six months. He repeatedly visited Taghi in prison, and authorities determined the conversations between the two were not about legal matters but criminal issues, with T. acting as a messenger.

Youssef T. was convicted in January and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. He defended his actions saying he was trying to prevent or delay a scheme to break Taghi out of prison, and was not trying to help him.

T.'s attorney, Andre Seebregts, said in September that Weski must have been acting as Taghi's messenger. He claimed there were decrypted messages sent via the Sky ECC service, which Dutch police infiltrated, that proved his assertion. These include messages that allegedly show a plot to have documents smuggled in and out of prison, and communications between one of Taghi's children and Italian mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale, who recently became a cooperating witness in a separate investigation.

Seebregts said to the Telegraaf during T.'s trial that he believed Weski succumbed to intense pressure to breach professional ethics. Weski angrily denied the accusation.

“This is unbelievable. Surely he must know what the consequences are if you say something like that,” she said at the time.