Two suspects facing 13 years in prison for fatal shooting in Amsterdam coffee shop

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has recommended 13 years in prison against 41-year-old Fouad H. and 29-year-old Mohamed H. The OM holds them both responsible for the violent death of 33-year-old Saïd Yusuf, who was shot in the head in a coffee shop in the city center of Amsterdam on November 19, 2023.

Drug dealer Fouad H. was embroiled in a conflict with the victim regarding money. Several meetings had come before the incident in the coffee shop on the Kloveniersburgwal. An argument ensued on the evening after Yusuf had taken Fouad’s phone and refused to give it back.

According to the OM, Fouad H. had brought a firearm and then given it to Mohamed H. with the order to fire it. Which is what H. did. “He walked towards Yusuf without any hesitation, pulled out the gun, and shot the victim in the head from close range,” said the prosecutor. “A cold and clear assassination. Shoot to kill. That is what that looks like.”

The victim died of his wounds in the hospital. Mohamed H. handed himself in to the police a day after the violence, and Fouad H. was arrested in Germany. Both suspects live in England. Fouad H. has been “deeply connected to the drug trade” and was in Amsterdam for that reason.

Fouad H. did not fire the gun, but he is just as guilty of the death of the victim as his fellow suspect, prosecutors believe. “He gave the gun and the order in a cool-blooded way and let another do the dirty work.”

OM collected a lot of their evidence from camera footage. They do not consider many statements made during the investigation to be reliable.