Michel Zwik, a 54-year-old Dutch national, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of 41-year-old Belgian Raouf Ben Alita in 2018 in Stekene, East Flanders, according to the Ghent Court of Assizes.
He has to serve a mandatory minimum of 18 years before he can be eligible for conditional release, the court ruled.
Raouf Ben Alita's body was found on 6 December 2018 in a ditch along the Seawall in Kloosterzande, the Netherlands. He lived in Temse, but had spent several years in prison since 1998, related to drug charges.
In 2014, he was imprisoned in Dendermonde in connection with a cocaine importation case, in which Zwik was also arrested and detained.
Drug deal gone sour
Michel Zwik, along with his brother René Zwik, ran Vintage Cars House, a garage in Stekene dealing primarily in vintage Volkswagen vans used for drug trafficking.
The investigators discovered communications between the brothers Zwik and Ben Alita, which revealed that they had argued about a drug deal involving one of the vans. During a search of the Vintage Cars House warehouses, several bloodstains were found, containing the DNA of Ben Alita and the Zwiks.
According to the forensic doctors, the victim died from a gunshot wound to the neck and had several injuries indicating torture. Telephone and other investigations revealed that, in addition to the brothers, four other Dutch nationals were involved in the events.
All six defendants pleaded not guilty to murder, but the main suspect, Michel Zwik, failed to appear in court late last year. He was required to report to prison before the start of the trial, but he did not show up. On 13 December, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment and his immediate arrest was ordered. His brother René was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The four others received prison sentences of up to 20 years.
Arrest in Croatia, followed by extradition
Michel Zwik was arrested on 30 December in Bajakovo, Croatia. A European warrant had been issued for his arrest, and Zwik was extradited to Belgium early this year. He was served with his life sentence and decided to appeal.
Zwik maintained his innocence before the Ghent Assize Court, claiming that three men had suddenly appeared and shot Ben Alita dead. He did admit that he was involved in drug trafficking.
His lawyer, Mounir Souidi, argued that the witnesses in the case were unreliable, particularly the other convicted persons, but the civil parties and the public prosecutor asked for him to be found guilty of murder. On Tuesday evening, the jury ruled that Zwik was indeed guilty, referring, among other things, to the searches he made for a dumping site for the body, and his attempts to clean up the bloodstains.
The public prosecutor demanded a 30-year prison sentence, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years served. The defence requested a lighter sentence more in line with the prison terms imposed on the other defendants.
The court and the jury agreed on a 30-year prison sentence, with Zwik having to serve at least 18 years before he can be eligible for parole. It was not immediately clear whether he will serve his sentence in the Netherlands or Belgium.
