Reduan B. was killed on March 29, 2018 at his company in Amsterdam. The Public Prosecutor (OM) had announced six days earlier that his brother Nabil had become a key witness in the Marengo trial.
Family safety has long been a topic of discussion. The OM’s first reaction was that the murdered Reduan did not want or only limited security. This was immediately strongly denied by the relatives of the key witness.
The judiciary then had to admit that it underestimated the threat. The liquidation of a family member had never happened before and was therefore unimaginable. This was a decisive argument when considering whether anyone should receive security.
This also led to strong reactions from B.’s family, because there had been so many warnings about Ridouan Taghi’s ruthlessness. The key witness made many statements about Taghi.
NRC extension now he writes that the signals had already been received by the police at that time. For example, hand grenades were allegedly found in Utrecht shortly before the announcement of the crown witness agreement. The police linked that find to the situation around B.
It was a reason for one of the key witness’ brothers to ask for personal safety. The Prosecutor’s response was that this was not necessary on the basis of the risk assessment and that, furthermore, there was no capacity to do so.
The Dutch security council is investigating the death of Reduan B. and his safety. The prosecutor is reluctant, because the judiciary wants to wait for the results of this investigation. The report is expected next year.
