Wheat camp suspects are stuck-but not on suspicion of murder

The four men who are suspected of involvement in the explosion at the Hague wheat camp at the end of last year will remain stuck for the time being. The court decided that on Monday afternoon during the second preparatory hearing of the criminal case. Three of them were directly involved in the arson and explosion in a bridal store, a fourth helped with the preparations, but later dropped out.

Although the case has not yet been dealt with in terms of content, the session turned out to be a harbinger of what will be on the table during the content treatment: did the men committed six murders when they sprouted gasoline on the floor of the bridal shop and fireworks on December 7?

The OM’s request to suspect the men of murder, provides insight into the gravity that the prosecutors hang on the matter

The men were initially only suspected of arson by the Public Prosecution Service, resulting in death, a criminal offense that can be imposed for life.

But for the first session in mid -March, the Public Prosecution Service added a suspicion to three men: Murder, or the lives of others. On Monday, the OM asked the court to fix the men for that suspicion.

Petrol

That sounds technical and in a sense it is too. After all, the men are already stuck and none of those involved in the courtroom doubted that they will remain that for the time being. The involvement of, for example, Ilias B. « drips from the file, » said his lawyer Anis Boumanjal. B. not only bought the jerry cans with which, once filled with nearly two hundred liters of gasoline, a fire was founded; He was also involved in the arson in a pre -exploitation of the building and on Saturday morning.

In addition, B. and main suspect Mostagh B.-whose ex-girlfriend owned the bridal store-made confessions and declared regret. Ilias B. said he still had « sleepless nights » on Monday; Mostagh B. said that the « victims and relatives are and remain in my mind. » A third main suspect has been silent so far, but regrets Monday. Next week he will be expected to make a confessive statement to the police.

At the same time, the request of the OM, to suspect the men of murder, provided insight into the gravity that the prosecutors hang on the matter. And it showed their great confidence in the evidence.

Shocked

Too heavy, the lawyers of the three main suspects said. « The goal was arson, » said both Boumanjal and Feride Tosun, lawyer of the silent suspect. Everything in the preparation was aimed at causing damage to the bridal store. He had to be destroyed, wedding dresses had to be stolen. That, said Boumanjal, the ex-girlfriend of the main suspect would « learn a lesson »-Moshtag B. thought she had cheated on.

According to the lawyers, the fact that De Boel then exploded, the apartment complex collapsed and six people – including three members of one family – were never the intention. In fact, Boumanjal said: they would be so shocked that they even considered calling the fire brigade – it is unclear whether they did that too. During the preparations they also discussed the idea of ​​bringing a fire extinguisher. Ergo: no premeditation, no murder.

The OM argued that the men could have known that the residents of the houses above the bridal store would also risk a arson for which they had refueled two hundred liters of gasoline. « Every reasonably thinking person, » said one of the two officers, « understands that this will lead to explosion. » Ergo: Murder.

Every reasonably thinking person understands that this will lead to explosion

The judge thought it was early on Monday to throw himself at that question. « There will be an opinion, » said the court chairman, « but we don’t see the added value of saying anything about it now. » The men are therefore stuck, but not on suspicion of murder.

That judgment will take a while. The court hopes to start the substantive treatment of the case in February next year, but also stated that it can be later: it can take a year to a half years before an investigation into the architectural state of the building is completed. Together with a study by the Netherlands Forensic Institute, that research should give more clarity about the crucial question: how exactly could the apartments collapse?

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