Horror video shows on a large screen in court how a cocaine thief is mutilated: “Put that cut off finger in his ass” (Turnhout)

It is Thursday, February 23, 2023 when municipal workers notice an abandoned white Peugeot Boxer on a forest road in Poppel (Ravels). Not much later, a badly injured man staggers towards the workers, he is covered in blood, has burns all over his body and is even missing a finger. It concerns 38-year-old Henri W., a Dutchman from Heumen near Nijmegen.

Yersen V. (37), one of the main suspects, saw Henri W. as the errand boy of the drug gang that had robbed him of 75 kilos of cocaine that originally had to be sent to England by helicopter. The cocaine never got there.

“During phase one of the evening, the victim is stomped and beaten, his nose is broken and the perpetrators put a bag over his head. In phase two the victim would be tortured, in phase three he would ultimately be liquidated. That murder could not have gone ahead just because the van broke down.”

Inge Delissen

Public prosecutor

When W. unsuspectingly goes to pick up a new package in Eindhoven, he is grabbed by several men and thrown into the cargo space of a Peugeot Boxer. It is the start of hours of torture. During the kidnapping, one of the leaders in the case, Michael D. (25), lost his smartphone. Panic followed and a new location had to be found where the torture could take place. That became a warehouse on the Oudebaan in Wilrijk (Antwerp).

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“During the drive from Eindhoven to Belgium, the victim was informed that the evening would be divided into three parts,” prosecutor Inge Delissen explains. “During phase one, the victim is stomped and beaten, his nose is broken and the perpetrators put a bag over his head. In phase two the victim would be tortured, in phase three he would ultimately be liquidated. That murder could not have gone ahead just because the van broke down.”

A video is shown in the Turnhout court in which the victim is already badly injured on the floor of the van. “The kidnappers literally ask the question: is he still alive?” the prosecutor adds.

According to the victim, the perpetrators drove around for two hours. When he arrives at a warehouse on the Oudebaan in Wilrijk, Henri W. is lifted out of the van and placed naked on a chair. “Other perpetrators then arrived, and they all participated in the abuse,” Inge Delissen continues.

“At some point a torturer arrived. The victim says that this man stands out in terms of aggressiveness.” He carves ‘thief’ into Henri’s forehead, the wounds are then doused with caustic ammonia. He also delivers several kicks to the head. The clients still ask for fire, but no one in the warehouse has a lighter in their pocket.

Big screen

What happens then is shown on images that everyone in court sees. The two clients make video calls with the perpetrators of the torture, the screen recording of which is shown on a large screen. “Zigzag, cut off his finger,” you hear several times. “That boy is stuck, he can’t leave, so live it up,” the clients continue from their hiding place in Marbella.

It is clearly visible how Zigzag, later identified as Raf DK (24), attacks Henri W.’s finger with a hammer and chisel. The victim sits naked and bloody on the floor of the warehouse. In Marbella there is loud cheering when the perpetrator manages to cut off a fingertip. “Give him another chance to reveal an address,” is said on the other end of the line. When things remain quiet at Henri W., Raf DK decides to take a pair of wire cutters. Because “the entire finger must be removed”, from the clients. Yersen V. can’t stop laughing when Raf DK finally manages to cut off the finger. “Put that finger in his ass,” is repeated several times.

The investigation into the torture identified thirteen suspects, who, according to the Public Prosecution Service, consist of four levels: the principals, people who have direct contact with them, the executors and four other suspects involved. Michael D. appears in this file as the client of the men who kidnapped Henri W.. He served as a middleman.

Public prosecutor Inge Delissen is demanding a prison sentence of thirty years for the two main suspects Jonas W. (24) and Yersen V. For intermediaries, such as Raf DK and Michael D., she demands twenty years. Delissen demands nineteen years in prison for the executors. And for the last five defendants she demands a prison sentence of three years.

Inhuman treatment

Andy Boermans is counsel for the first main suspect in the case, Yersen V.. Attempted murder and torture with aggravating circumstances are among the charges that V. is on trial for. “We do not shy away from the fact that our client can be seen and heard on that video and that he makes a long list of extremely inappropriate statements,” he pleaded. “He allowed himself to be carried away by the tense atmosphere surrounding the torture.”

Boermans indicates that his client encouraged the perpetrators in Wilrijk, but that he was not the client. “How managerial are you if a video still needs to be made in the context of accountability? Are you a boss then? Absolutely not,” he continues. “Thirteen minutes, that’s V’s share. My client only comes into the story late, when all other steps are over.” He and his employee therefore asked the court to reclassify the charge to inhuman treatment.

The Public Prosecution Service introduced Jonas W. as the second main suspect in the file. W. followed the torture from Marbella together with Yersen V.. Boris Reynaerts, counsel for W., did not dispute the facts, but did – like Master Boermans – discuss the qualification of attempted murder and the fact that W. is presented as leader.

“I do not dispute the fact that he is part of a criminal organization,” Reynaerts began. “But he was barely able to look at the images.” According to the lawyer, W. helped look for a new location where the torture would take place and he rented the van. “My client is absolutely not the one who called the shots in these files, but took a number of actions.”

Reynaerst concludes by emphasizing that his client is still young at 24 years old and was impressionable. “He’s not a sadist,” he concludes.

Zigzag

Omar Souidi was the third to speak during the hearing as counsel for Raf DK, the suspect who, according to the Public Prosecution Service, allegedly cut off Henri W.’s finger. Although both DK himself and his lawyer contradict this. “That evening my client was asked to pick up clothes at the warehouse in Wilrijk, for which he received 2,500 euros,” Souidi explains. “He realized it was not kosher and also asked his girlfriend to call the police if he did not return or did not hear from him.”

In addition, lawyer Souidi emphasizes that there is insufficient evidence that the person who cut off the finger is his client. “Zigzag is referenced several times,” he notes. “At what point has the Public Prosecution Service ever found evidence that my client has that nickname?”

Then lawyer Thomas Gillis takes the floor for his client Farid C., who would have been responsible for arranging the warehouse in Wilrijk. “The only link between the owner of the warehouse and my client is work,” says Gillis. C. would have worked for him in the past. “There is no trace of a telephone call from Farid C. to the owner of the warehouse that evening.” He asked the court to acquit Farid C..

36-year-old Farid C. stood up angrily after his lawyer’s plea, after which he addressed the twelve other defendants. “In every court I have been to, I have taken responsibility,” he shouts. “Now it is time for the people here to take responsibility. These are all no secrets here, I am innocent.”

“The attempted murder was not stopped because of the van that broke down. But because of the attempt to take the victim to the hospital.”

Attorney Michael D.

Panic

Michael D., the fifth leader in this file, was in contact with the clients in Marbella. According to the prosecutor, he gave instructions and served as an intermediary. “The ball started rolling when my client accepted the assignment through Signal,” said his lawyer. “He gets into the front of the van and there is absolute separation between the passengers and him. He also lost his smartphone along the way.”

According to the lawyer, there was never any question of murder. “The attempted murder was not stopped because of the van that broke down,” she clarifies. “But the attempt to take the victim to the hospital. They left the van door open. Subsequently, a number of voice messages were recovered that showed my client’s state of panic. He says: they are after me, I don’t know what to do.” After this, according to his lawyer, Michael D. left for Hungary out of fear, where he was arrested in August 2023.

Although the process took a day, not everyone was included. A second hearing will follow next Wednesday where a number of lawyers will speak, and the thirteen suspects will also have the opportunity to speak.