Just two weeks after being sentenced to two years in prison, rapper Ali B was spotted at the airport, ready to leave for Morocco with his family. Say what?! Will he now run away and never return to the Netherlands?
Spotted in Weeze
An attentive reporter from Shownieuws saw it all happen. “We spotted him at the airport of Weeze in Germany, and there he took the plane to Morocco with his wife Breghje and the children.” So while we are all still shook by his conviction, Ali just happily packs his bags to take a break.
Is that allowed?
But wait, can he just travel to Morocco? According to lawyer Bram Moszkowicz, yes. “Because he is appealing, he does not have to sit in court and the court has apparently not imposed any conditions on him that would prevent him from going abroad.” So yes, Ali can just grab his passport and leave.
Voluntary return or not?
The big question is of course: will Ali B return to the Netherlands voluntarily or not? Presenter Manuel Venderbos already suggested: “Does Morocco extradite to the Netherlands?” Well, according to Moszkowicz it doesn’t. “No, as far as I know Morocco doesn’t extradite its subjects and I think he also has a Moroccan passport. Then he’ll be safe there.” Phew, that doesn’t sound too hopeful for a quick return…
Ali B is appealing
A quick recap for those who missed it: Ali B was sentenced to two years in prison for sex crimes, although he was acquitted of the assault on singer Jill Helena. The rapper is actually appealing his sentence. His lawyer Bart Swier announced this after the rapper was sentenced. Swier had previously said that his client planned to appeal any sentence. “He is convinced of his innocence and that means that he has every confidence that things will go better on appeal and that the appeal will result in a full acquittal,” the lawyer said. Swier also said that the rapper feels “disbelief” and a “deep disappointment” after the verdict. Swier did not want to say where B. himself was during the verdict. The appeal will be handled by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Swier only expects that the case will take at least another year. Wow! So the rapper and his victims will have to be quite patient before we know how this will continue. And in the meantime, he is happily in Morocco.
When will we see Ali again?
Well, the million dollar question remains: when will the rapper return to the Netherlands? Evert Santegoeds ended the conversation with the words: “He left on Monday at 22:15 and when he will return, we will have to wait and see”.
