Rico the Chilean invokes silence in slow start-up process | Inland

Six days have been allocated in total for the criminal case against the man who is seen by the Public Prosecution as a serious criminal who, together with Ridouan Taghi and Naoufal ‘Noffel’ F., ran a criminal organization that had murder and criminal money committed on a large scale. whitewashed. Ridouan Taghi is the prime suspect in the mega Marengo trial that will begin substantively on March 22. Noffel F. is already serving a life sentence for a liquidation in Almere.

Even when asked if he knows Taghi and Noffel, Richard R. refused to answer. In other questions he frequently referred to the statements he made during interrogations by the police. Because he was afraid of making mistakes on which the Public Prosecution or the court would later judge him, he gave a statement.

Hours of thought about fighting

The trial got off to a slow start on Monday. The court pondered for hours on requests from the defense to hear witnesses that could be relevant to the case against Richard “Rico” the Chilean. All requests were denied.

Officially, Richard R. is only prosecuted in this trial for money laundering and possession of weapons. On that basis, Chile handed him over to the Netherlands in 2017. The Public Prosecution Service is busy preparing for a second trial, in which Richard R. must stand trial for directing liquidations. But that is only possible if Chile gives permission. Much of the evidence against Richard R. comes from decrypted chats that he and other members of the criminal organization exchanged via Pretty Good Privacy phones.

Coronabesmetting

Richard R. was infected with corona in prison. He is still struggling with the aftermath of this, he told the court. He is tired more quickly, has not yet regained his sense of smell and taste and ate his lawyer Leon van Kleef’s supply of paracetamol during the afternoon because he had a headache.

In between, he gave a brief account of the things he had engaged in in the years before his arrest, ranging from running a money exchange office in Bogota, to renting out cars, trading watches and “underground banking.” The case continues on Tuesday.

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