Vito Shukrula, the former lawyer of Marengo main suspect Ridouan Taghi, will be released “with immediate effect.” The Amsterdam court announced this on Thursday. Shukrula was arrested in April on suspicion of participating in Taghi’s criminal organization.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had asked the court to keep Shukrula in custody for another thirty days. The OM says it still sees sufficient serious objections. The court has rejected that claim. When the next hearing in the case is, is still unclear.
“Our client will take the necessary rest in the coming period and will continue to concentrate intensively with us on his defense, so that his good name can be cleared as quickly as possible,” say Shukrula’s lawyers Nico Meijering and Bas van Faassen.
The 36-year-old Shukrula was arrested after a visit to Taghi in the extra secured institution (ebi) in Vught. The criminal investigation into the lawyer began last December based on information from the AIVD, the OM reported after the arrest.
Shukrula is the third lawyer of Taghi to be arrested. In early 2023, Taghi’s nephew and lawyer Youssef Taghi was convicted of passing on messages. Inez Weski, also a former lawyer of Taghi, is also suspected of this. The criminal case against her is still pending.
Taghi still without a lawyer
At the end of November, Shukrula, Carlo Crince Le Roy and later Sultan Kat were appointed as Taghi’s lawyers. Crince Le Roy and Kat have since announced that they are also giving up Taghi’s defense.
Taghi is therefore once again without legal assistance in the major Marengo liquidation process. The main suspect is said to have approached six law firms in the meantime, but without success.
The court sentenced Taghi to life imprisonment last year. The appeal in this case is currently still ongoing.