The Maastricht court yesterday saddled the prosecution with a load of homework in the criminal case against a Maastricht man suspected of rape.My ex-boyfriend raped me twice, assaulted me several times and also threatened me with death.

What on earth is my ex-girlfriend talking about?I didn't do anything at all, am completely innocent.

See here the readings of, respectively, a 25-year-old Maastricht woman and a 30-year-old Maastricht man who now lives in The Hague, but has been detained for several months in De Geerhorst prison in Sittard. Because despite the fact that the statements are as contradictory as you can imagine, according to the prosecution, it is as plain as day: the woman's story is true and so the man will have to pay handsomely. The indictment does not lie: double rape, assault, threats and even attempted murder. The demand of prosecutor Marja Verbaas was not clear yesterday in the court in Maastricht. The criminal case was postponed indefinitely, because according to the court the prosecutor proceeded very lightly.

With that, lawyer Jeroen Nijboer's lengthy lamentation was heard. "The prosecution is only concerned with the conviction and not with establishing the truth," fulminated the counsel for the 30-year-old Maastricht man. He was referring to the fact that in recent times the prosecutor has disregarded almost all of the defense's requests by labeling them "completely irrelevant. "Everything the woman says is considered by the prosecutor as'true' and she immediately seeks evidence and witnesses for that. But everything my client claims is totally ignored. The prosecution should handle this case with an open mind."

Investigation into a mysterious phone call

The court agreed and yesterday saddled the officer with quite a bit of homework. For example, in the coming time, the declarant must be heard as a witness before the examining magistrate and cell phone records must be checked. Recordings of the woman's interrogation must also be given to counsel and four witnesses must be heard. They will possibly make statements that could be considered exculpatory to the accused. Finally, a mysterious telephone conversation at De Geerhorst prison must also be investigated. The 30-year-old suspect was told by a prison employee that his lawyer had called and he should call him back. He was handed the phone number in the process. The suspect dialed the number, but did not get in touch with his lawyer. In fact, the phone was answered by his ex-girlfriend; the woman who reported him. The woman who made it known she was afraid of the suspect and did not want any more contact with him. The court now wants to know, among other things, what exactly was discussed at the time, especially since the suspect indicates that the woman has sought and had contact with him much more than once since their relationship ended.