New witness comes forward in sex assault, rape case against Ali B
A new witness came forward on Wednesday in the sexual assault and rape case against rapper Ali B, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said. The authorities spoke to her yesterday, NOS reports.
The woman is not a victim herself, but said that in 2018 she helped a girl in Heiloo who told her that she had been sexually assaulted. The woman saw the girl crying at a bus station and gave her a lift on her bicycle.
Ali B. is accused of two counts of sexual assault and two counts of rape of three women. One of the victims said that the rapper assaulted and raped her at a writers' camp in Heiloo in 2018.
The OM asked that the new witness’s testimony be added to the file. The court is currently considering this.
The other two victims are singers. Jill Helena, a participant in The Voice of Holland in 2013, said that Ali B pressured her to help him masturbate in a car on a remote forest path in the Amsterdamse Bos in 2018 after they both performed at a show in Monnickendam. And singer Ellen ten Damme said the rapper raped her in 2014 when she took part in the program Ali B en de Muziekkaravaan. He came to her room and forced her to have sex with him, she said.
The charges against Ali B are not connected to the television program The Voice of Holland, though his arrest did follow a BOOS broadcast revealing widespread sexually transgressive behavior on the program.
Ali B’s trial started on Wednesday. The man denied the accusations against him, saying he never sexually assaulted anyone and that all sexual contact was consensual and never under duress.
The second day of the trial is Thursday. During the hearing, the OM is expected to recommend a sentence against Ali B.
