Dutch prosecutors demanded Friday that a Muslim father and his two sons could be jailed for up to 25 years for allegedly drowning an 18-year-old relative because they believed her “Western” behavior brought shame to the family.
The body of Syrian woman Ryan Al Najjar was found submerged in a lake, with her hands and feet tightly bound, near Joure in the northern Netherlands on May 28, 2024, six days after her disappearance, according to authorities. Officials arrested her father and two brothers, then aged 22 and 24, and charged them with her murder, which prosecutors say likely occurred on May 22.
“They saw Ryan as a burden that had to be removed,” the Public Prosecution Service said on Friday. “Just because she was a young woman who wanted to live her own life.”
Authorities said her male relatives, who come from what they described as a “strict” Muslim family, allegedly killed her because they thought she was “acting too Western in the eyes of her family.” Al Najjar was reportedly targeted after he refused to wear a headscarf in public settings.
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Ryan Al Najjar was murdered in the Netherlands in May 2024. (National Police Force Netherlands)
“The direct cause of her death appears to be a live video on TikTok, showing Ryan without a headscarf and wearing makeup,” prosecutors said Friday. “According to their reports, the video is deeply embarrassing to the family as it does not fit within their traditional views.”
“Once the suspects became aware of the video, they began searching for Ryan,” authorities added. “According to the Public Prosecution Service, her brothers visited her in Rotterdam and persuaded her to go to a remote location the evening before her murder. She was taken to Knardijk, where their father joined. She was murdered there.”
Local media NL Times identified the brothers as Mohamed Al Najjar and Muhanad, and their 53-year-old father as Khaled. All three were charged with the young woman’s murder, while their father was accused of orchestrating the killing before likely fleeing to Syria, prosecutors said.
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Courtroom sketch of suspects Mohammed Al N. (R) and Muhanad Al N. during a hearing in court. The two brothers and their father, Khaled Al N., are suspected of the murder of their sister and daughter, Ryan Al Najjar. (Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock)
Investigators say Al Najjar was taken to a remote park where “no one for miles could have heard her” calling for help. Evidence showed signs of strangulation and drowning, and approximately 60 feet of tape had been used to tie her up before she was thrown into the water alive. Prosecutors reported that Khaled’s DNA was also found under his daughter’s fingernails, indicating he was present during the murder.
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The body of Ryan Al Najjar was found in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in Lelystad, the Netherlands. (Pierre Crom)
“[Khaled] fled to Syria immediately after the murder and let his sons take the blame. Cowardly,” the Public Prosecution Service wrote in a statement on Friday according to NL Times. “Khaled has completely destroyed his family.”
Dutch authorities added that extraditing Khaled could be difficult because he married a woman in Syria since Al Najjar’s death, the newspaper reported.
The Public Prosecution Service has recommended a prison sentence of 25 years for the father and 20 years for each of the two brothers.
The court is expected to deliver its ruling on January 5.
