Four years in prison for bribing Amsterdam city official
A court in Zwolle jailed Kamal El M., 30, for bribing an Amsterdam city official and passing on confidential government information. The sentence is two years less than prosecutors demanded.
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Illustrative photo: dassel / Pixabay Content LicenseKamal El M., 30, must serve four years in prison for bribing an official of the municipality of Amsterdam and for obtaining and passing on confidential government information. The district court in Zwolle passed sentence on Tuesday. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded six years.
The court held it against him that he saw a way to earn money by passing information to criminals, and that he did not care about the danger this posed to the people behind the data. "By his actions the defendant has also actively contributed to seriously undermining trust in government organisations, and thereby undermining the authorities," the court said.
The court found it proven that from September 2022 to October 2024 El M. bribed an enforcement officer (boa) who worked for the Toezicht en Handhaving (supervision and enforcement) department of the Amsterdam municipality.
He was also convicted of possessing more than 3.5 kilos of amphetamine and 24 grams of MDMA, and of dealing in several kilos of cocaine.
The court acquitted him on some charges. Among them, it did not find it proven that information he passed on to criminals led to a home being shot at. The time he has spent in pretrial detention will be deducted from his sentence.
Source: Rechtspraak
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The Public Prosecution Service is the Dutch authority that prosecutes criminal cases in the Netherlands. It decides whether a suspect is brought to court and, during the trial, requests the sentence, which the judge then sets. It directs criminal investigations together with the police.
boa (bijzonder opsporingsambtenaar)
A special investigating officer is a person who is not a police officer but has limited investigative powers for specific tasks, such as enforcing local rules, parking, environmental or safety regulations. These officers work for organisations such as municipalities, government agencies or companies, and their powers are set by law. They are a common sight in Dutch cities, where they often check compliance with municipal rules.