Willem Holleder, one of the Netherlands' most notorious criminals, was released from prison in Rotterdam on Friday after serving six of a nine-year sentence for extortion and blackmail.
Holleder (53) was an extremely influential figure in the Dutch underground for decades. He was also imprisoned for the kidnapping of beer industry tycoon Freddie Heineken.
Holleder was taken in a car with tinted windows to a secret location "on a public road", where he was picked up by friends, Dutch media reported.
The Telegraph reported that the release was carefully coordinated by Justice Department officials to avoid Holleder being hailed as a hero or attacked.
His most notorious crime has recently been turned into a film that will soon be shown across Europe, and a new Hollywood version is also being made, the BBC reported.
Crime novelist Ton Teunis believes that Holleder is attractive to crime fiction, rather because of his character, than because of the crime.
There is no hard evidence
"He has this incredible aura. It's like he's in complete control. It looked like he was untouchable inside as well," Teunis told the BBC.
"It's exciting and dangerous and for some reason, we'll always be drawn to that."
Willem Holeder was born in 1958 in Amsterdam. His father worked at the Heineken factory. According to the story of his friends, he had a difficult childhood.
One source, who wishes to remain anonymous, remembers growing up in the same part of town as Holleder. By his early teenage years, Holleder's gang had already begun to establish itself as a force in the area.
"They raced around on the latest motorbikes, mostly stolen from German tourists, where we played football," he said.
"Holleder and his friends would take over the playground and if any of us tried to resist, they would beat him with a helmet,"
Teunis met Holder when he was working as a guard in a prison, and the latter was imprisoned for extortion.
"He's been linked to almost every murder in Amsterdam in the last 30 years. However, the police could never charge him with anything due to a lack of evidence," Teunis told the BBC.
The perfect kidnapping?
On November 9, 1983, Holleder and his gang pulled off what they believed would be the perfect kidnapping. Armed with Uzis and shotguns, they headed for Heineken's headquarters.
At gunpoint, they grabbed tycoon Freddie Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer in broad daylight on the street outside the factory and stuffed them into the back of a van. The hostages were taken to an abandoned warehouse near the port, where a secret room had been adapted to serve as a makeshift cell.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 16 million euros. The family eventually provided the money, but instead of releasing the hostages, Holleder's gang escaped, leaving Freddie and Aba captive.
Fortunately, the police had a lead through a Chinese restaurant whose services the criminals used. After three weeks, the detainees were finally rescued.
Tried to block the movie
The Heineken Kidnapping had all the makings of a blockbuster, but the main character, Holleder, was uncooperative and launched a lawsuit from prison in an attempt to stop the film from being released.
"Holleder did not like how his character was portrayed in the film," said Jens van den Brink, a lawyer representing the film company IDTV.
"In the film, for example, there is a scene of a simulated execution like Russian roulette, when they put a gun to Heineken's head and pull the trigger.
"Holleder said, 'That never happened and you're making people think we're worse than we really are.' I said that, first of all, there is artistic freedom and, secondly, it is difficult to tarnish the reputation of someone accused of kidnapping two men at gunpoint and holding them captive in an abandoned warehouse."
Not looking forward to freedom?
Almost three decades have passed since the Heineken kidnapping. The real Willem Holleder today is not the young, strong and untouchable gangster that many feared in the 80s.
BBC writes that most of his former colleagues were killed, in prison or went to some less dangerous destinations. Holleder refused early parole, perhaps thinking he was safer in prison. According to people who know him, he was not looking forward to being released.
“Imagine being accused of being involved in so many murders. The guilt may not be established, but you know that some people want you dead," says writer Ton Teunis.
"I remember when I was working in a prison, one of the prisoners was allowed to go home for Christmas. I watched as he left, got on his bike in a new suit, smiling and waving at us. Then, as soon as he reached the parking lot – bang! – and he was gone. "Criminals die all the time. Of course Holleder is afraid for a reason."
The BBC points out that there is now a completely new underworld in the Netherlands and that he no longer has control over the criminal network as he used to, and his health is not the same either.
It was speculated, as reported by the BBC, that Holleder would try to escape from the Netherlands by plane at the first opportunity. A British public service journalist says he has refused all requests for an interview, and that his lawyer has said he wants to avoid any attention.
Ordered the liquidation of Srđan Miranović
The media wrote that Holleder found his closest associates among people from the criminal milieu of Serbia and Montenegro, who came to the Netherlands. Miloš-Bata Petrović, who was arrested in the Netherlands in November last year, was allegedly in charge of selecting persons "suitable" for Holeder.
Petrović was born in Bijelo Polje, and according to Belgrade and Dutch media, he was an underground rival of Sreten Jocić in drug dealings.
Petrović was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the Netherlands for organizing the murder of Jocić's godfather Srđan Miranović in 2006 in Podgorica.
During the trial, Petrović denied that he was involved in Miranović's murder because he was in prison at the time. However, the Dutch authorities accused him of having organized the liquidation from prison, on the orders of Willem Holder.
According to that version, Miranović settled with the Dutch police and gave information about Holeder's affairs.
Drama at trial
Holder was sentenced to nine years by a court in Amsterdam in December 2007 for participating in the blackmail of three real estate tycoons.
He remains a suspect in the investigation into at least seven murders, known as the "Passage" case, and will be closely monitored, DutchNews reported.
The trial in 2006 turned into a real drama.
Before the trial began, the courtroom in Amsterdam was hit by two shells, after which Holleder had to undergo emergency heart surgery and key witness Bram Zegers died of a narcotic overdose a few days after testifying.
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