Mar 5, 2024 at 8:24 PM Update: 2 hours ago
Khalid Kasem is said to have been in direct contact with Ridouan Taghi, probably when he was still on the run. That’s what it writes AD Tuesday based on recordings that the newspaper has had in its possession for some time.
The publication of the article was initially stopped by a ruling by the Amsterdam court. A court decision changed this on Thursday.
It AD has four recordings of confidential conversations between former lawyer Kasem and Peter R. de Vries, which took place in 2019. In one of those conversations, Kasem allegedly confirmed, after questions from De Vries and his son Royce, that he had recently had direct contact with Taghi.
The conversation took place shortly after Taghi’s arrest in December 2019. De Vries said he wanted to know more about their bond. It was already known that the presenter and Taghi, who was recently sentenced to life in the Marengo trial, were in a class together at primary school.
In the recording, Kasem could be heard saying that he knows Taghi well. “Yes, when they came to me, when that happened with you… That was actually the first time in I know how many years that I have had direct contact with Taghi. For the rest, not really,” said the former Khalid & Sophiepresenter according to it AD.
Kasem may have been referring to the moment when De Vries was told that he would be on Taghi’s death list. Taghi denied this in a letter that the now murdered crime journalist obtained.
Kasem has previously been linked to Taghi
It is not the first time that Kasem has been linked to Taghi’s criminal organization. In 2020, suspicions arose that Kasem had actively leaked to Taghi’s organization.
This had everything to do with a weapons discovery in Nieuwegein in 2015. According to the judiciary, those weapons belonged to Taghi. Kasem briefly assisted a suspect in that case: Werner E.
The suspicion that Kasem had passed on information from that investigation is based on a message sent to Taghi with a PGP telephone on July 17, 2015: “Salaam alikom sir, I just spoke to the man who helps devil, Mussa’s brother “He told me they started this in March and it’s because of the stolen cars.”
‘Devil’ is Werner E.’s nickname and Kasem has a brother called Mussa. In response to this suspicion, Kasem later said in an interview with de Volkskrant: “If I remember correctly, I met Ridouan T. on the street later, in 2005 or 2006, and we chatted for a while. But other than that I don’t know anything about him.”
In 2021, the alleged leaks were investigated by the dean of the Amsterdam Bar Association, which acts as a supervisor of the legal profession. He found no supporting evidence for the suspicion. That is why the case was closed at that time.
Kasem says in response to it AD that the article is “full of incorrect suggestions and false accusations”, but that he cannot respond substantively to defend himself because it is a confidential conversation.
Kasem also suspected of bribing official
At the beginning of this year, suspicions arose that Kasem bribed an official during his time as a criminal lawyer in order to get a client released earlier. This would also appear from conversations that Kasem had with De Vries. The recordings are also in the hands of it AD. Kasem also denies this accusation.
The National Criminal Investigation Department has announced that it is conducting an exploratory investigation into the alleged bribery by the BNNVARA TV presenter. This could lead to a criminal investigation, but no decision has yet been made.
The Amsterdam Bar Association is also investigating Kasem. The dean has stated that the investigation focuses on both the bribery and the new facts. It is expected to be completed by the end of March.
Kasem resigned from his job at BNNVARA immediately after the report about the alleged bribery. He presented together with Sophie Hilbrand Khalid & Sophie on NPO1. He has now been replaced by Jeroen Pauw and the talk show is now called Sophie & Jeroen.
2024-03-05 19:24:33
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