Amsterdam’s district court has sentenced Anouar Taghi to 26 years in jail for leading a crime gang which prepared the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum in 2019. He is the nephew of Ridouan Taghi who was sentenced to life last month for his role in a string of gangland killings. 

Eight other suspects were also given jail terms in the case, ranging from 208 days to seven years for car theft, fencing and committing grievous bodily harm.

They include Krystian M who is currently in jail awaiting the verdict for his role in the killing of television crime reporter Peter R de Vries, who also gave support to Nabil B. M was given a four year jail term for attacking another man with a hammer and baseball bat. 

The court said Taghi is the leader of the group that prepared the way for Wiersum’s murder. He was shot dead close to his home in Buitenveldert while he was supporting Nabil B, the crown witness in the investigation into RidouanTaghi. 

“Wiersum’s murder cannot be separated from his role as a lawyer for the key witness in the Marengo trial,” the court said. “Wiersum was an intended target of murder and Anouar Taghi must have known this.”

Taghi’s lawyers said they would appeal against the sentence and that there is no direct evidence linking him to the crime. 

In 2021, two other men were jailed for 30 years carrying out the killing. 

The killing of Wiersum was described at the time as a ‘new, dark phase’ in the increasingly deadly underworld drug wars and prompted the then justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus to pledge tough new measures against drug criminals.