Court rejects the request of Promes for suspension of prison sentence

In his criminal case, Quincy Promes is not allowed to wait in freedom to pick up his football career. The Court of Appeal in Amsterdam decided on Tuesday afternoon in the pro forma session in the appeal on two criminal cases in which he was convicted in the Netherlands.

The professional football player is staying in Dubai where he is involved in a case around a traffic accident.

The 33-year-old former international, who played for Ajax, among other things, was sentenced in 2023 in absentia for serious abuse of his cousin in 2019. A year later, a conviction for managing drug transports in the same period followed. Included, that led to 7.5 years in prison. The court ordered immediate detention. Promes has appealed. He had submitted a request for suspension to the court on Tuesday, so that he can resume his football career, which, according to his lawyer Cem Polat, can last two or three years.

The Court found the substantiation of the personal interest insufficient: the lawyer could not make it clear which offer there was. « It has not been shown which position he will enter into, where that is or when it starts. This is not controllable. » According to the Court, the flight hazard has not passed. The Court therefore weighs the criminal interest heavier than the personal interest.

Promes informed various media last weekend that he is willing to cooperate in the process if he can await his appeal in freedom. He wants to be able to travel freely again, which is currently not possible due to the international investigation order. That makes the continuation of his player career impossible. He played on the second level last season in the United Arab Emirates. At his previous club Spartak Moscow, the agreement went last summer, after he had been in Dubai for months.

According to his new lawyer CEM Polat, Promes wanted to ask the court under what conditions this could. He himself suggested that, among other things, the seized repaid buildings of Promes to the State when he flees. He would also be socially committed and report at the police station at any time.

‘Lectures in schools’

The Public Prosecution Service stated that he « in no way gave openness ». The Advocate General advised against the Court to grant the request for suspension. That Promes wants to behave in an exemplary way, for example through lectures in schools, « is free at all times, » said the Advocate General. « It is aware why this should be done with a consideration to be granted by the Court. »

The OM was seized on the Promes buildings. The offer that the State can sell the buildings if he fleeed, the Advocate General « actually called a cigar from his own box. » He also expected a deterioration of the relations of extradition, who, according to him, are difficult with the United Arab Emirates. Regarding the extradition of Promes to the Netherlands, he said that there is « shot in », without being able to give a timeline.

The chairman of the court wondered, among other things, why Promes could step on the plane if he could wait for his appeal in freedom. According to lawyer Polat, this is due to the ‘Red Notice‘, International signaling as long as there is an arrest warrant. He sketched the possibility that if Promes would go to the Netherlands under the current circumstances, he might first have to be stuck in Dubai pending extraction, with which the process in the Netherlands would not have been helped.

There is no session date for the appeal yet. The Court stated that, among other things, another witness needs to be heard in Belgium.

To share

Mail the editors