The Netherlands: ‘We live in a narco-state’: murder of Dutch lawyer prompts fear and fury

September 19, 2019

Lawyers in gangland cases given emergency protection after unprecedented killing

Lawyers and prosecutors in major gangland drugs cases in the Netherlands have been given emergency protection after the unprecedented murder of a top defence lawyer prompted police and the media to claim that government naivety was turning the country into a narco-state.

Derk Wiersum was gunned down in the street as he left his home in the Amsterdam suburb of Buitenveldert on Wednesday morning. Police are searching for a 16- to 20-year old man in a black hooded top who fled the scene on foot.

Wiersum, 44, was acting for Nabil Bakkali, a crown witness in a case against 16 men accused of five murders between 2015 and 2017, whose brother was also shot dead last year shortly after authorities named Bakkali as a witness.

Dutch media compared Wiersum’s killing to the targeted Mafia assassinations of investigating magistrates in Italy in the 1990s or the lawless Colombia under the drugs baron Pablo Escobar.

Flags were at half-mast outside courtrooms across the Netherlands on Thursday and lawyers were to hold a minute’s silence as the justice minister, Ferd Grapperhaus, met officials from the public prosecutors’ office and representatives of Dutch lawyers’ associations to discuss the heightened security arrangements.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/19/netherlands-narco-state-dutch-lawyer-murder-fear-fury

https://www.france24.com/en/20190919-trudeau-brownface-netherland-lawyer-killed-narcoterrorism-oxford-sexism-china

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2019/09/20/2003722626

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/prosecution-witness-lawyers-assassination-shocks-netherlands/5101495.article

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/dutch-lawyer-murder-halts-prosecution-20101932

Netherlands: ICJ extremely concerned at killing of lawyer

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/10710-lawyer-in-major-dutch-organized-crime-case-shot-death

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91059-flags-flying-at-half-mast-in-memory-of-slain-lawyer

L4L shocked by liquidation of lawyer

Derk Wiersum

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https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/09/18/derk-zag-in-nabil-iemand-die-zijn-hulp-nodig-had-a3973880 (NEDERLANDS)

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/heeft-het-om-de-dreiging-voor-advocaat-derk-wiersum-onderschat~b1a928cb/ (NEDERLANDS)

https://www.courrierinternational.com/une/justice-emoi-aux-pays-bas-apres-lassassinat-dun-avocat-en-pleine-rue (FRANCAIS)

https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_les-avocats-belges-sont-ils-inquiets-pour-leur-securite-apres-le-meurtre-de-leur-confrere-neerlandais?id=10319646 (FRANCAIS)

.@oBarreaux exprime sa solidarité envers les avocats néerlandais ainsi qu'aux amis et à la famille de Derk Wiersum. https://t.co/UHZWL7kHnE

— AVOCATS.BE (@oBarreaux) September 20, 2019

The CCBE has expressed its shock over the murder of Dutch defence lawyer Derk Wiersum: https://t.co/HFxyMRtrb2 pic.twitter.com/9LWut5ndy0

— Gazette.ie (@gazette_ie) September 20, 2019

Derk Wiersum – encore un avocat assassiné… quand les Etats se décideront-ils à doter enfin la profession d’avocat d’un instrument de protection internationale ? https://t.co/TtFjPwzxuy

— pettiti laurent (@LaurentPettiti) September 19, 2019

Amsterdamse korpschef terug van vakantie na liquidatie Wiersum.https://t.co/o1wgdLGOCi

De Amsterdamse korpschef Frank Paauw heeft vanwege de liquidatie van advocaat Derk Wiersum zijn vakantie ingekort. Hij is naar Nederland teruggekeerd laat zich vandaag bijpraten door … pic.twitter.com/fgjZi82Gg2

— NL Nieuws (@NieuwsNu123) September 20, 2019

Hij streed voor rechtvaardigheid en menselijkheid. #DerkWiersum pic.twitter.com/bvaZMAFgJj

— Marcel Haenen (@MarcelHaenen) September 19, 2019

PAYS-BAS –18 septembre 2019 Derk Wiersum 44 ans, a été abattu en plein jour dans une rue d'Amsterdam. Il était l'avocat d'un témoin clé dans une vaste affaire impliquant deux hommes originaires du Maroc, qualifiés de criminels les plus recherchés des Pays-Bas. pic.twitter.com/vbXFaRDbI1

— idhae (@idhae4) September 18, 2019

■SHOCKING ASSASSINATION

AMSTERDAM – Lawyer Derk Wiersum was murdered in broad daylight, a crime that marks a turning point in Dutch 🇾🇪 history

'An attack on the rule of law itself’

Dutch Law Firms and Lawyers are devastated

Via @mickvanwely @telegraaf https://t.co/yjjTMBjLkY pic.twitter.com/3I5ys8Cv6o

— ALPHA PRO (@DTMsport) September 18, 2019

Indrukwekkend beeld in z'n eenvoud. #bussum #advocaat #DerkWiersum pic.twitter.com/IaMqGjopBE

— Gerard de Kloet (@gdekloet) September 19, 2019

Tagged: Belgium, CCBE, France, IDHAE, International Commission of Jurists, The Netherlands