TUDDEREN/SITTARD - The Maastricht court has taken the judiciary to task over withholding information. Justice must still give some phone and text message taps in the acid murder case to the suspects' lawyers.
Two weeks ago, witnesses were heard in the case, which revolves around murdered Iraqis Mouhammed Al Jader and Alan Gergeri.
Those interrogations were suddenly cut short, however, because the Justice Department appeared to have documents that the accused's lawyers knew nothing about.
The prosecutor's office (OM) refused to add the statements to the case file; it must do so now.
Prosecutor David van Kuppeveld wanted to hear a witness under oath first. He was afraid that if he provided the documents first, the contents might get to the witness through the suspects, and the witness would then adapt his story to the contents of the wiretaps.
The lawyers wanted the court to order the prosecution to add these documents to the case file. That request has now been granted. Earlier, the Justice Department withheld an extensive report on an undercover action from the lawyers in this case. In it it became clear that the most important and, according to the prosecution, most reliable witness in this murder case, Paolo, deals in weapons. A deployed informant was even able to buy a semi-automatic firearm of the same type as the murder weapon.
