The Public Prosecutor has demanded sentences ranging from eight years to life in prison for 11 defendants in the Amsterdam liquidation trial.

The Public Prosecutor is seeking life terms for six defendants, and prison sentences ranging between eight and 15 years for four others. It is recommending one defendant be acquitted.

For key witness Peter la Serpe the Public Prosecutor is seeking eight years in jail, half of what would be considered normal, because of his cooperation under a witness protection agreement. He is accused of being involved in several murders. It’s thought he will receive around 1.4 million euros for his cooperation.

The 11 defendants are suspected of involvement in seven mob-style executions in Amsterdam between 1993 and 2006. Mr La Serpe had admitted he was involved in the assassination of real estate agent Kees Hotman in 2005.

The justice department says the life sentences are fully justified as none of the defendants has shown the slightest remorse. Nor do they have any sense of the sorrow they have caused others, the Public Prosecutor said. And no leniency is being shown, the Public Prosecutor explained, because the defendants refused to cooperate in the trial.

(cl)

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