Appellate court sentences 30-year prison term for murder of lawyer

Flowers outside Derk Wiersum’s office. Photo: DutchNews.nl

An appeals court judge upheld the 30-year sentence imposed on the two men who murdered lawyer Derk Wiersum despite prosecutors seeking life imprisonment.

Giërmo B (37) and Moreno B (32), who claimed an alibi for the shooting, First conviction in 2021 Based on DNA and phone evidence, and the fact that they both had a large sum of money shortly after the murder.

Wiersum was representing Nabil B, a key witness in a major drug and murder trial involving gang leader Ridouan Taghi, when he was murdered near his home in Amsterdam’s Buitenveldert in 2019. rice field.

Taghi is one of 17 people currently on trial in Amsterdam for ordering six murders and seven attempted murders between 2015 and 2017.

dark phase

At the time, Wiersum’s murder was described as “a new dark phase” in the increasingly deadly underworld war on drugs, prompting Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus to commit to tough new measures against drug offenders.

Life inmates are now eligible for parole after 25 years and refer their cases to a special commission to assess behavior and development in prison, risk of reoffending, and possible impact of release on victims and their relatives. You can bring it in. .

The final decision rests with the Minister of Legal Protection, but last year the Dutch Sentencing Council RSJ said: The role of ministers should be abolished.