Defense attorney Inez Weski, who represented Ridouan Taghi, to be released from jail
Criminal defense attorney Inez Weski will be released from jail after spending 41 days in custody. The lawyer was arrested while representing alleged crime boss Ridouan Taghi. She was being held on suspicion of participating in an organized crime operation that was involved in trafficking drugs internationally and money laundering.
"The detention of the Rotterdam lawyer who was arrested on April 21 will be suspended. The court judges that there is no longer any reason to detain her any longer," the District Court of Rotterdam said on Twitter. Weski's release was confirmed by her attorneys, Fébe Schoolderman and Rob Baumgardt, who issued a brief statement.
Taghi has been in restricted custody at a maximum security facility in Vught, and has not been allowed contact with anyone other than his legal representation since Dubai authorities extradited him to the Netherlands. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) alleged that Weski helped pass messages between Taghi and the outside world.
Weski's attorneys said she "has not made any statement due to [her] duty of confidentiality and will not do so. The impact of everything that has happened since April 21, 2023 is great." Schoolderman and Baumgardt indicated they would not answer questions related to the case.
Weski, 68, is the second attorney representing Taghi to face such accusations. Taghi's cousin and former lawyer, Youssef T., was convicted and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for similar charges.
T.'s attorney was the first to suggest that messages intercepted as part of an investigation involving an encrypted chat platform showed that Weski was acting as a conduit between Taghi, his family, and their activities. Weski denounced the accusation as "incorrect, unfairly suggestive, and highly reprehensible."
Taghi is the principal suspect and one of many co-defendants in the Marengo criminal proceedings. The case is centered on a series of assassinations, failed assassinations, and plots to commit murder. The trial was nearing its conclusion when Weski was apprehended. It is not yet known how Weski's arrest will affect the trial. Taghi has indicated he will defend himself, an issue which will be discussed in court on June 19.
The Rotterdam court could have ordered her detention to be extended by a further period of up to 90 days, which would have eventually led to a hearing held in open court. With Weski kept in restricted custody, prosecutors and defense attorneys were somewhat limited in what they could reveal about the case.
