Most ‘traditional’ Dutch newspapers and their online equivalents are afraid to report on the matter (out of fear of losing access to the Dutch political realm and out of fear of being sued by high profile Dutch law firms) but the Dutch newspaper ‘Katholiek Nieuwsblad’ is reporting – courageously - that Freedom Party MEP Lucas Hartong is showing support for the initiative of 3 U.S. Members Of Congress to reopen (or open at all) the case against Joris Demmink, the Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Justice.
A fourth Member of Congress, Mr. Ted Poe, has also written a letter to Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey about this particular issue. Poe believes that Demmink has used his power and influence to block any attempts to investigate the child abuse accusations against him.
Hartong is of the opinion that a bit of pressure in the direction of the Dutch prosecution authorities by folks from the U.S. couldn’t hurt and is even justified in this particular matter. Hartong has asked the Chair of the U.S. Delegation of the EU Parliament, Mr. Christian Ehler, to put this topic on the agenda and (join the) call for an investigation.
Dutch language news article:
http://www.katholieknieuwsblad.nl/nieuws/item/2568-pvv-steunt-verzoek-heropening-zaak-demmink.html
Background information:
http://vrritti.com/?s=demmink&submit=Search
UPDATE: In an article published on 13th September 2012, Katholiek Nieuwsblad suggests that the Dutch Ambassador to the U.S. Mr. Rudolf Bekink did not present the facts entirely correctly when writing his recent letter to the U.S. Members of Congress. The newspaper argues that Dutch police investigators weren’t able to establish whether or not Secretary General Demmink had been in Turkey during the alleged cases of abuse of Turkish teenagers. The Ambassador however, argues that everything has been thoroughly investigated and that it had been established that Mr. Demmink had not been in Turkey at the relevant moments in time. The newspaper also suggests a certain trade-off. In return for the Turkish government keeping quiet in relation to the child abuse incidents, Demmink would have imprisoned a Turkish citizen who had knowledge about Turkish government officials being involved in drug trafficking. Just one week ago, Advocate-General Mr. Diederik Aben has advised the Dutch Supreme Court to reopen the case that has resulted in the imprisonment of this Turkish individual.
Dutch language news article:
http://katholieknieuwsblad.nl/nieuws/item/2558-ambassadeur-in-vs-in-actie-vanwege-aantijgingen-tegen-joris-demmink.html
