For hours, the main suspect Taghi listened almost impassively to Nabil B., but when the chairman of the court asked at the end of the afternoon if anyone had any questions for the crown witness, Taghi went wild. “I don’t want to address that fantasist, that liar. I have nothing to say to that,” he grumbled.
Megalomania
Taghi suggested that there would be no criminal organization, contrary to what B. claims. “Has he ever had personal contact with the people sitting here?” Taghi wondered. “Has he ever received assignments from them. In my experience, this boy suffers from megalomania.”
B. acknowledged that Taghi had never given him direct orders, “but at some point (…) you know who a message comes from.” Taghi then called him ‘a pathological liar’.
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B. and Taghi were allies until the murder of Hakim Changachi in January 2017. As a close friend of the Changachi family, B. was caught between two fires by the murder. Fearful for his own life, he took the unusual decision to have himself arrested and to report to the police about the organization around Taghi.
Blank criminal record
B. had a clean criminal record until he was arrested with a firearm in the chic PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam. He feared that he would die anonymously if he were liquidated, so he became a crown witness.
In the high-security bunker in Amsterdam, B. spoke very quickly and sometimes unclearly. This sometimes caused annoyance among lawyers in the room, including Inez Weski, who assists Taghi.
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According to the Public Prosecution Service, Taghi was the head of an organization that aimed to commit murders. In the controversial Marengo trial, Taghi is suspected of involvement in all cases: six murders and another four attempts, including on completely innocent people. Here’s what you need to know about the process:
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High price
In exchange for his testimony, the Public Prosecution Service is demanding a lower sentence against B., who supplied fast cars for criminal activities. B. pays a high price for his role as a crown witness.
A week after the Public Prosecution had announced the deal with B. – in March 2018 – his (non-criminal) brother Reduan was shot in Amsterdam. In September 2019, B.’s lawyer Derk Wiersum was murdered at his home in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert.
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