CAT: Dutch court declines to await European Sky ECC case Prudniez and imposes 69 months
On 13 October, Noord-Holland District Court refused to postpone a major drugs trial pending the European Prudniez proceedings. It used Sky ECC messages as evidence and sentenced the defendant to five years and nine months in prison.
In the CAT case, ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2026:13886, the defence sought to await the Advocate General’s opinion in EU case C-625/25 and possibly the judgment too. That French reference concerns remedies against evidence shared under a European Investigation Order. Counsel argued that the outcome could matter to the integrity and authenticity of Sky ECC messages and a fair trial.
The court distinguished the procedures. It said France had initially shared the CAT data voluntarily and later through a joint investigation team, rather than a European Investigation Order. It therefore considered the relevant directive inapplicable and the need for delay insufficiently substantiated. It continued to apply the principle of interstate trust to the French investigation.
The attribution of three Sky accounts was also disputed. The defendant admitted using two but said other people sent messages on them too. He said the third belonged to his father-in-law. The court attributed all three to him, citing matching passwords, cell-site information and contacts among other factors. It rejected his explanation and the conditional request to question the father-in-law as a witness.
The court found offences including trading around 1,105kg of cannabis and 180kg of cocaine, exporting 30kg of cannabis to Norway and possessing four firearms and ammunition proved. It acquitted him of actually importing 125kg of cocaine: the presence of the shipment aboard the vessel and his joint involvement in importation were insufficiently established. Preparations to arrange its extraction from the ship were proved.
Prosecutors had sought nine years. The court imposed 69 months, including a three-month reduction because the reasonable-time limit had been exceeded by almost four months. The case number is 15/161624-24.
