LEEUWARDEN - The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) in Leeuwarden has withdrawn the appeal against a man who shot dead Amsterdam rapper Farrell 'Rel' Provence in Hoogezand, Groningen, in late 2009. The public prosecutor announced this on Friday.

Jason B. was discharged from all prosecution by the court in Groningen last September, after the public prosecutor had earlier demanded 18 years in prison against the man. According to the judges, the man acted in self-defense when the rapper entered his home with three friends. It also could not be ruled out that the intruders had taken the firearm with them, the court said, so the man received no punishment for that either. Rapper "Rel" allegedly stormed Jason B.'s home with five others to retrieve drugs, money and a gold chain that B. had allegedly stolen earlier.

According to prosecutor Ietje Vermeulen of the public prosecutor's office in Leeuwarden, the case was complicated. "The prosecutor disagreed with the court's ruling. But when we studied the verdict for the appeal, the verdict turned out not to be so crazy." (ANP)