The third hearing in the trial of alleged crime boss Willem Holleeder began in the high security court in Amsterdam today. Holleeder, who has already served an 11-year jail sentence for kidnapping Heineken boss Freddie Heineken in 1983, is now facing charges of blackmailing a number of property magnates.

These include Willem Endstra who was shot on Amsterdam’s Apollolaan in 2004.
Today’s sitting is to determine if Holleeder should continue to be remanded in custody.
Holleeder is also under investigation for his involvement in a number of shootings which have shaken up Amsterdam’s criminal underworld.
Yesterday it emerged that the public prosecution department believes it now has enough evidence of Holleeder’s involvement in a number of killings. All of today’s newspapers report that a witness, known only as D, has told officials that Holleeder had ordered the murder of Amsterdam gangster John Mieremet. Mieremet was shot outside his lawyer’s office in 2002 but survived. Three years later he was shot dead in Thailand. The informant said Mieremet’s killing was in revenge for the murder of another Amsterdam underworld figure, Sam Klepper, who was shot dead on the Gelderlandplein shopping centre in Buitenveldert in 2000.