Berry K. (25) from Maastricht has not yet been convicted. Yet next month he will spend exactly one year in pre-trial detention on suspicion of murder.
On March 11, 25-year-old Maastricht man Berry K. allegedly shot dead a 40-year-old man during a drug deal on Pastoor Kikkenweg. K.'s lawyer Françoise Landerloo finds it inconceivable that her client has to wait so long for the actual criminal trial. She said yesterday during the pro forma hearing in Maastricht that Berry is only detained on the basis of witness statements. "There is not even an autopsy report on the victim's cause of death yet, nor is there any other technical document. Perhaps the victim was not even killed by a bullet," Landerloo said.
She asked the judge yesterday to lift or at least suspend K.'s pretrial detention. But the judge did not grant her request. "Just the suspicion of murder is not enough to keep someone in pretrial detention. But shooting with a firearm in a residential area during a drug deal is serious enough," the judge found. Berry's plea that he will not deal anymore, especially with the murder case on the horizon, was also to no avail. Previously, he said he dealt seven days a week.
"In 2010 there was also a suspicion of dealing and possession of weapons. Given the crime, the social interest outweighs your personal interest," the judge said. The prosecutor explained that this case is all taking longer than usual because justice has to wait for the Belgian reports. These should be in by Feb. 23. On the day of the shooting in March, according to Berry's account to the police, three Belgians came to get drugs from him in Cadier en Keer. When they reached into his bag of drugs, he allegedly fired.
