Nearly six years after the tragic death of 14-year-old Tamar, the primary suspect is finally being taken to criminal court after her parents fought for years for a prosecution The young teen girl, who is from the Dutch island of Marken, was hit and killed by a Iraqi driver on a road in July 2020.
The incident occurred during the night of July 25, 2020, when Tamar ran away from home in Marken following a disagreement regarding her phone and laptop use.
Her body was later discovered by authorities on the shoulder of the Zeedijk, a road connecting Marken and Monnickendam. She had been hit by a car. Medical evaluations concluded that the teenager was likely killed instantly upon impact.
In fact, the police initially told the mother the driver was a German, but later, it was discovered that all four men in the car had an Iraqi background and were driving to a campgorund. The driver, Jamal T.., was actually an Iraqi applying for asylum in Germany and was driving with German plates.Even until this day, media outlets in Germany and the Netherlands falsely report that the driver was German.
When the mother learned the man’s Iraqi background, she told Dutch media that the police responded that they had withheld the real background “because we didn’t want to create a (Geert) Wilders-effect.” Wilder is a Dutch right-wing political leader. She described this as a “second blow” after losing her child, emphasizing that they should have been honest rather than offering “political excuses.”
The driver did not just flee the scene in Zeedijk, but forensic evidence suggests that her body was moved at the scene of the accident. Furthermore, his vehicle was cleaned and sold just two months after he struck the girl. He claimed, however, that he never noticed hitting the girl, saying he thought he hit “something” but did not know what. The girl was hit so hard by the impact that the coroner said she died instantly.
Forensic analysis verified that the suspect’s vehicle had indeed struck the teenager, causing her fatal injuries. However, prosecutors initially declined to pursue criminal charges, stating it could not be proven that the driver, who was 28 at the time, “could be accused of serious traffic errors.”
Despite driving away from the scene of the girl’s death, he was given only a €1,500 fine for looking at his phone while driving. However, he was not even given the fine, as he disappeared and the fine was “undeliverable” for years.
The family finally took matters into their own hands. They filed an Article 12 procedure, a legal mechanism allowing citizens to challenge a prosecutor’s refusal to take a case to trial. Now, finally, after six years, 33-year-old Iraqi is being prosecuted for the fatal accident and fleeing the scene.
The legal representative for the family, Sébas Diekstra, expressed the profound emotional weight of this development on behalf of Tamar’s parents and brothers.
“For Tamar’s parents and brothers, this is a long-awaited and fraught moment. After years of uncertainty and waiting, the point has finally been reached at which the case will actually be substantively prosecuted,” Diekstra stated to Dutch outlet AD.
The attorney highlighted the toll the multi-year delay has taken on the relatives, noting, “The road here is tough and exhausting. For the parents and brothers, it feels for a long time as if their case has come to a standstill, while they are confronted every day with the loss of Tamar and the questions that remain unanswered.”
“One thing is central to them: truth and justice. The file and traces in this case show that there is no real scenario other than that Tamar was moved after the collision. This fact means that this case should never have been left behind and must now be assessed by the criminal court. Clients hope that action will now be taken without further delay,” added the lawyer.
The case has become extremely divisive due to the authorities attempting to hide the suspect’s nationality, according to the mother, all in order to make sure Geert Wilders did not benefit from a case involving Iraqi nationals driving away from the scene of a crime. It further creates the perception of two-tier policing. The fact that the prosecution did not even pursue a trial despite evidence the body was moved raises further questions about how the case was handled.
