Key Witness in Mocro Maffia Trial Set for Release: Court Orders Freedom for Nabil B.

Good news for Nabil B., the main witness in the Marengo trial against the Mocro Maffia boss Ridouan Taghi. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has ordered the suspension of his pre-trial detention, on the grounds that he has already served the majority of the agreed sentence as part of his witness agreement. Incarcerated since 2017, Nabil B. will soon be able to regain his freedom. At the time, the Dutch justice system had promised him a maximum sentence of eight years in exchange for his testimony against the drug trafficking network. The court had previously sentenced him to 10 years in prison. However, his release would not affect the final sentence that still needs to be decided on appeal, according to the Dutch justice system.

Nabil B. will certainly be released, but he remains subject to strict conditions, including the obligation to be available to testify on appeal. He must also refrain from any new offenses. The court also stressed the need for enhanced protection measures. Three people linked to Nabil B. have indeed been assassinated during the trial: his brother Reduan in Amsterdam on March 29, 2018, his lawyer, Derk Wiersum, shot dead in front of his home in September 2019, and the investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries, who acted as his advisor and confidant, killed in the center of Amsterdam in July 2021.