Two men stay in custody over alleged rape in Amsterdam-Noord
A court has kept two men in custody until at least 2 February in the case of a 61-year-old Canadian woman who says she was held and raped in a house in Amsterdam-Noord in May.
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Shakil O. and Bryan B. are being prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) for confining, raping and extorting a 61-year-old Canadian woman. The district court refused to release them at a pro forma hearing, a short procedural session in the investigation.
The woman, who was visiting her son in the city in May, says she was held against her will in a house in Amsterdam-Noord and raped several times. Police arrested eight men. Two are still in custody.
Their lawyers, Sylvester Römer and Semra Aytemur, asked for their release. The court ruled that they must stay in custody until the next pro forma hearing on 2 February.
The two men say they had sex with the woman but deny it was rape. Bryan B., the only suspect at the hearing, told the court he is wrongly in custody. “It's absolutely ridiculous, I just feel nobody is listening to my side of the story,” he said.
The prosecution wants to put further questions to the woman in light of the statements made in the case. It has not managed to do so since the first hearing in the case three months ago.
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OM (Openbaar Ministerie)
The Public Prosecution Service, which decides whether suspects are prosecuted and brings criminal cases to court.
pro forma zitting
A pro forma hearing is a short procedural session of a Dutch court in a criminal case, held before the main hearing on the merits. At this stage the judge checks the status of the case, such as whether a suspect stays in custody, and sets dates for the next steps, while the substance of the charges is not decided. It matters because these sessions are a routine point where detention and scheduling are reviewed before the case is actually tried.
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