After three years on the run, he leaves Morocco and is arrested a few hours later at Roissy

Oussama B.’s, 29, run from the law ended on Wednesday, September 16, in a line of travelers at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. French customs officers arrested him after he had just landed, having boarded a flight in Morocco a few hours earlier, reports AD.

His lawyer, Wesley van Soest, confirmed the arrest. The length and circumstances of Oussama B.’s stay in Morocco have not been specified. During his time on the run, he also reportedly stayed in Dubai, Spain, Colombia and Mexico.

One week before his arrest, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal sentenced him to more than eleven years in prison for his involvement in preparations for the murder of Derk Wiersum. According to Dutch justice officials, he belonged to the group that had conducted surveillance around the lawyer’s home and office, then provided vehicles used by the killers.

On Bladi.net : article 87204

Oussama B. also maintained contacts with several key members of the network, including Anouar Taghi, Ridouan Taghi’s nephew. The latter was sentenced to 26 years in prison for his role in the murder of Derk Wiersum. His appeal trial is still ongoing.

On the run after his detention was suspended

Derk Wiersum was defending Nabil B., the key witness in the Marengo trial against the network led by Ridouan Taghi. He was shot dead outside his home in Amsterdam in September 2019. The two perpetrators of the murder, Moreno B. and Giërmo B., were each sentenced to thirty years in prison.

The lawyer’s murder deeply affected the Netherlands. It was part of a series of assassinations targeting people close to Nabil B.: his brother Reduan was killed in 2018, before the 2021 assassination of journalist Peter R. de Vries, who accompanied him as a trusted confidant.

Oussama B. was held in pretrial detention in 2019 and 2020. After the court suspended this measure, he left the Netherlands and evaded justice. He later offered to return, but only on the condition that he not be arrested in a country where he believed his rights might not be respected. Discussions between his lawyer and the Dutch public prosecution service did not succeed.

On Bladi.net : article 64116

According to Wesley van Soest, his client now says he is relieved after three years on the run. The lawyer says that Oussama B. was exhausted by the manhunt and had chosen to take a flight despite the risk of arrest.

French authorities are expected to hand him over to the Netherlands soon, where he will have to serve his sentence. Sezer B., who is also being prosecuted for his alleged involvement in preparations for the murder of Derk Wiersum, remains on the run.