Convicted accomplice in lawyer’s murder willing to surrender if rights guaranteed
A 28-year-old man convicted for his role in the 2019 murder of prominent defense attorney Derk Wiersum is willing to serve his prison sentence, but only under strict conditions that guarantee the protection of his human rights, according to AD.
Oussama B., originally from Utrecht, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in the preparation of the fatal shooting of Wiersum, who was the lawyer of Nabil B., the key witness in the massive Marengo criminal trial against alleged crime boss Ridouan Taghi.
Wiersum was gunned down outside his home in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert in September 2019. Two men were sentenced to 30 years in prison for the assassination.
According to the court, Oussama B. helped prepare the murder. He worked closely with Anouar Taghi, Ridouan Taghi’s cousin, to ready a series of stolen vehicles for use in the operation. The cars were stored in a garage box in Utrecht. One of the cars, a Renault Mégane, was used to scout Wiersum’s movements in Amsterdam.
The Utrecht police initially suspected the garage and its contents were intended for a different type of crime. Authorities believed Anouar Taghi, along with B. and others, were planning to use the stolen cars in explosive ATM robberies. Taghi was already a convicted criminal at the time and had rented the garage. Police later discovered that Oussama B.’s phone number was listed on the rental contract, prompting them to place tracking devices on several of the fastest vehicles in the garage—but not on the Renault Mégane, which later played a key role in the lawyer’s surveillance.
Oussama B. also maintained contact with other key players in the criminal network that carried out the murder. Anouar Taghi was sentenced to 26 years for his role.
Following earlier convictions for money laundering and fraud, Oussama B. had been held in pre-trial detention in the Wiersum case. But after a court decided to suspend his detention, he left the country. He has been a fugitive ever since and did not appear at his trial in November 2023.
Now, he has notified the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) through his attorney that he wants to serve his sentence—on one condition. “My life has been on pause since I was 20,” he told AD through his lawyer Wesley van Soest. “The way it’s going now, I won’t be tried until a year from now due to the appeal. I want to put this behind me.”
However, B. is demanding guarantees that he will not be arrested at a foreign airport when he turns himself in. “I want to be detained somewhere where human rights are sufficiently respected,” he said. “That is not the case everywhere in the world.” His current whereabouts remain undisclosed, but sources told AD he was last seen in Mexico.
According to Van Soest, previous attempts to negotiate with the prosecution have failed. “The O in OM certainly does not stand for 'solution-oriented,’” he told AD. “If any party is dropping the ball in this highly sensitive case, it’s the prosecution. You would expect cooperation. Perhaps the OM simply has no interest in letting people serve their sentences. It’s striking that they only launch a manhunt when a suspect is prominently featured in the media. Maybe they want to prove themselves to the public in such cases. But in all the others…”
Oussama B. is not the only suspect in the Wiersum case who remains free. Another fugitive, Sezer B., also faces accusations of playing a key role. The prosecution originally demanded 18 years in prison against him. But just before the court in Amsterdam was set to issue a ruling in absentia, Sezer B. unexpectedly hired a defense attorney. As a result, the court was legally required to restart the trial.
