Lawyer Inez Weski, who was arrested in April on suspicion of leaking information to her client, drugs kingpin Ridouan Taghi, has been released from custody.

The public prosecution department said at Thursday’s remand hearing that Weski should remain in jail while the investigation continues but judges said this was no longer necessary.

Weski’s own lawyers issued a short statement on Thursday saying that she has not given a statement to the police during questioning because she is bound by the legal system’s confidentiality agreement. Nor will she do so in the future.

“The impact of everything that has happened since April 21 has been major,” the statement said. “We would ask everyone to please respect her privacy.” Weski, who is 68, was held in solitary confinement for part of her time in jail.

Weski, who has been a practising lawyer for over 40 years, has since stepped down from the Taghi defence team.

The department suspects her of leaking information from Taghi, who is being held in solitary confinement at the Vught high-security prison and is only allowed contact with his lawyer.

Taghi is one of 17 defendants on trial in what has become known as the Marengo case, much of which hinges on a single crown witness.

Three people linked to the case have been murdered already: the brother of the crown witness, his lawyer Derk Wiersum and his confidant, television crime reporter Peter R de Vries.