Khaberni - The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office demanded severe penalties of up to 25 years for a father and two of his sons, after they were accused of murdering the Syrian young woman Ryan Al-Najjar (18 years old), in a crime that the authorities described as an "honor killing" carried out because the family considered the girl's behavior to have become "Westernized".
According to what Syrian media reported about the case file, Ryan's body was found on May 28, 2024, in a lake near the town of Yura in northern Holland, with her hands and feet tightly bound, six days after her disappearance, and investigations indicate that her murder occurred on May 22.
Evidence showed that the young woman was strangled, then thrown into the water while still alive, after wrapping around 20 meters of duct tape around her body, and traces of her father Khaled Al-Najjar's DNA were found under her nails.
The prosecution stated that the father and his two sons, aged 22 and 24, killed Ryan after she appeared in a live TikTok broadcast without a hijab and wearing makeup, which the family considered a "scandal". According to the investigation, the brothers tracked Ryan in Rotterdam and lured her to a remote area where the father joined them, and there the crime occurred.
After the crime, the father Khaled Al-Najjar fled to Syria, and the prosecution described his escape as a cowardly act, noting that his extradition would be complicated after he remarried there, and he is currently being tried in absentia as the main accused, while the brothers Mohammad and Mohannad are being tried in person for premeditated murder.
The prosecution requested 25 years in prison for the father and 20 years for each of the brothers, with the verdict scheduled to be issued on January 5th next year.
Ryan's family requested the father's trial in the Netherlands, but the Dutch Ministry of Justice clarified that judicial cooperation with Syria is currently not possible, despite the Syrian Minister of Justice's declaration of readiness to cooperate if an official request is made.
The prosecution also affirmed that electronic messages in which the father claimed he was the sole perpetrator of the crime do not exonerate the other defendants, and that the evidence indicates a clear participation among the three parties.
