He supplied drugs and made cab rides for prostitutes, but did not abuse the women. He was willing to admit that he sometimes supplied drugs to prostitutes in the streetwalkers' district in Eindhoven. In late 2004, for a month or two, three at the most, the 38-year-old Eindhoven resident told the court in Den Bosch yesterday. Not for a year, as the prosecution claims in any case.

The unemployed low-voltage mechanic also sometimes drove his gray Opel Kadett for cab rides. He took the women to the chip shop, or to a store where they could buy phone cards. Not to the dealership. "Because they come to the job themselves." Moments later, he admitted that he had been "wrong" about that. Yep, also sometimes to the dealership: And to customers, too. But the accusations of two addicted prostitutes the Eindhoven native firmly rejected. These told the police that they had been abused by the Eindhoven man. Human trafficking, prosecutor J. van Vreeswijk even called it. According to the Eindhovenaar, they are false accusations, coming from 'types'he distances himself from.

One of the women told that the Eindhoven man had offered her to stay with him. She could get board and lodging for 150 euros a week. In return, he did want to use her "services" every night. She had agreed. To avoid becoming homeless again. also, according to the woman, he provided hard drugs when she had no time to 'score' them herself.

Tippelworld

According to Van Vreeswijk, the Eindhoven man "came into the picture" during a major investigation into abuses in the Eindhoven streetwalking world. In the course of 2003, the police picked up more and more signals of abuse and exploitation of streetwalkers. A laborious police investigation followed, Van Vreeswijk said. "Nobody in this world wants to talk."

Still, the investigation has had an effect, the officer stated. "That situation has been normalized." Suspects who have forced addicted women to become prostitutes have received sentences of up to three years, the justice system, according to Van Vreeswijk, has sent the signal "keep your hands off the ladies, because you will be rewarded with unconditional jail time. The trial against the Eindhoven native is the "tail end" of the operation. The officer demanded against him two years in prison, eight months of which were suspended. Not because he forced women into prostitution, but because he took advantage of them.

Attorney S Weening argued that the women were unreliable. The first victim first stated that she lived with the Eindhoven man for three days, later she made that a week and a half, and finally she said it was two weeks. The victim first stated that she was "beaten all over the house" by the Eindhoven man and later that she was never beaten by him. According to Weening, the Eindhoven man can at most be punished for his self-admitted drug trafficking. The time he has already been detained, six months, is more than sufficient for that, the counsel said.

"I thought the suspect was a bit of a social worker," said retired Tilburger Hans Janssen 67. "He took the girls to the French fry shop and took care of them when they were sick. He didn't have to do it for the money, he said. But he is in debt restructuring..."

Janssen found the suspect to come across as rather intimidating. "I can imagine that some of the women changed their statements after his intervention. Moreover, given their background of addictions, it is also plausible that they cannot remember some things. But the defendant also keeps saying 'I don't know,' and I don't believe that very much. I found the judge very interested and calm. The lawyer I couldn't quite follow."

Hans Boeving 56, head of administration did find the suspect very adamant in his denial. "If you go into those kinds of circles every night, you have to be very strong in your shoes." Boevink has the impression that the lawyer was able to sow doubt with his plea. "The court will soon have a tough task with this. When you hear all the statements that are read out, you no longer know which one is the correct one." It does appear that the defendant had a role in the events. But whether he deserves two years in prison for it? Boevink doesn't know.

Professional

Recently, Ursula de Jongh 28 from Tilburg was allowed to call herself a master of law. She watched the hearing professionally. She saw how, through the judges' questioning, the accused had to admit bit by bit that he did have more on his church stick than he was initially willing to admit. "Nothing emphatic emerged," De Jongh believes.

By this she means that the suspect is not accused of specific misdeeds at a specific time. The man was on trial in an extensive lawsuit against excesses in Eindhoven's prostitution industry. De Jogh felt the prosecutor had the strongest appearance. The lawyer fell short. "He didn't start off strong at all. by constantly using words like 'may' and 'could'," he said. "She's pretty sure now that she doesn't want to be a judge. "Then you have to judge people that seems very tough to me."

ICT employee Annemarie van de Loop 54 from Oss got the impression at one point that in the case no one can be trusted. "His statement rattles but so do those of the women testifying against him." Van de Loop became convinced when she listened to the officer. "That man is very much involved in this case and he is simply right. By the way, the defendant fell through quite a bit as well. By the way, I wondered if he was using drugs himself. But maybe that's not so relevant. This does seem like a nasty case to rule on."

For Wil Prince 46, a bus driver from Tilburg, it was not an easy case. "There is no technical evidence but there are statements that have been revised over and over again," he said. Prince noticed that the defendant knew the trial documents like the back of his hand. And that the judge managed to add that the suspect had been convicted in Germany before.

"The judge asked him if he still planned to work. At first he said not but then he quickly turned around. "Prince is convinced of the defendant's guilt. "But, as the lawyer said, he didn't help the ladies into prostitution. They didn't start doing something they weren't doing before."