Suspect in fatal Albert Heijn stabbing remanded into custody

Jamel L., the 56-year-old who was detained for the fatal stabbing in a supermarket in The Hague, will remain in custody for at least another 90 days. The Council Chamber of the District Court in The Hague decided on Thursday to order him to remain in custody for killing Antoneta Gjokja.

L. was suspected of stabbing the 36-year-old Albert Heijn employee to death on June 20, just after the store on the Turfmarkt opened for the day. The Romanian woman died at the scene.

L. was arrested outside the store. He has a long criminal record for crimes in the Netherlands, England and Curaçao. In the following days it emerged that he had been sentenced by a judge in Curaçao five years ago to spend an indefinite period of time in mandatory psychiatric care at an institution, but that the Netherlands refused to continue the treatment.

On Wednesday evening, more than a hundred people joined in a silent march to memorialize the victim. Candles, white roses and memorial lights were placed at the supermarket. Some wore a white T-shirt with a picture of Gjokja on the shirt.

The silent march started at 8:15 pm on the Laan van Reagan and Gorbachev, close to The Hague Central Station. The initiative for the memorial march came from the Very Italian Pizza restaurant in The Hague, where the woman worked before she changed jobs. Friends of hers and colleagues from Albert Heijn also joined the walk.

Arjen Kapteijns, an alderman in The Hague, was also present at the memorial. He called the woman's death "horrible," saying, "I have spoken to many entrepreneurs in the area about this. It is really something that concerns people." Kapteijns handles policy issues related to the city center on behalf of The Hague.