Dutch gang leader Ridouan Taghi, once part of a cocaine "super cartel," has been handed life in prison for a string of murders. The violence may be over for now, but organized crime still looms large in the Netherlands.
The Public Prosecution Service demanded life in prison against three suspects for the murder of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries. The other suspects are facing up to 21 years in prison for their roles in the assassination. The harshest sentence demands went to the men suspected of organizing and committing the murder and the two suspected of recording the aftermath and posting it on social media.
Bennie Z., a 54-year-old physiotherapist from Klazienaveen, appeared in the court in Assen on Monday on charges that he raped two women and sexually assaulted 14 others while treating them at his practice between 2016 and October 2021. In court, the man denied doing anything inappropriate, claiming he only used “unusual” treatments in the interest of the women’s health, according to Telegraaf reporter Saskia Belleman posting live from the courtroom.
The court in Rotterdam sentenced John S. to life in prison for killing two people in a mass shooting at a care farm in Alblasserdam on 6 May 2022 and murdering a shoemaker in Vlissingen two years earlier.