Two men were found guilty Monday and jailed for 30 years for the murder of a 44-year-old Dutch lawyer that rocked the Netherlands two years ago.
On Sept. 18, 2019, the lawyer, Derk Wiersum, who represented a witness in a high-profile criminal case against suspected gangland bosses, was gunned down outside his house in Amsterdam by a man who escaped in a car that was waiting for him, reported ABC News.
According to DutchNews.nl, the two suspects, Moreno B and Giërmo B, claimed to have an alibi for the shooting, but were convicted due to the DNA found by the authorities, and the fact that soon after the murder, the two men had huge amounts of money.
Mobile phone data also showed that they were in the area at the time of the murder, and their involvement in the crime is shown in taped conversations after the lawyer was killed, said prosecutors.
Amsterdam District Court said in a summary of the written verdicts that the act was brutal, and through it the two men have shown a lack of respect for another person's life. The court further said, “Solely for money, they took Wiersum’s life and inflicted immense and irreparable suffering on his wife, children, parents and other relatives.”
While the men were convicted as hired hitmen, the court didn't make a ruling on who contracted them to kill Wiersum. It was also unclear who fired the shots and who was behind the wheel, but the court said that the two could be convicted as their actions showed that they were jointly out to murder the lawyer, who represented a witness, Nabil B., in a criminal case against suspected gangland bosses who were allegedly involved in many underworld killings.
Though Wiersum is no more, the main suspects like alleged Dutch gangland boss Ridouan Taghi are still on trial in a case related to six killings and four attempted murders. Nabil B. was involved in one of the murders, but is expected to get a lighter sentence as he agreed to give evidence.
The 2019 shooting rocked the Netherlands with Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus calling it an attack on Dutch society and saying, “Organized crime has crossed a line.” According to judges, the murder “caused great indignation, unrest and feelings of insecurity in society, because a servant of the rule of law has been killed."
Following the incident, the Dutch government plans to spend more money on dealing with organized crime that is connected to the underworld drugs industry in the country.
