The lawsuit that journalist platform De Correspondent has filed against the Public Prosecution Service will be on Monday, December 9. The case is before the court in The Hague.
In March 2022, the Public Prosecution Service listened to a confidential conversation that three journalists from De Correspondent had with Sywert van Lienden, Bernd Damme and Camille van Gestel to make a possible reconstruction of the controversial face mask deal they concluded with the Dutch government. The Public Prosecution Service listened to the conversation in a castle in Vorden as part of a criminal investigation into the three entrepreneurs.
“At stake is the right as a journalist to speak confidentially with sources without being listened to by the government,” De Correspondent announced on Monday. The Correspondent wants the judge to rule on the wiretapping practices of the Public Prosecution Service and is of the opinion that “the journalistic freedom to gather information is being affected”. The judge is expected to make a ruling within a few months.
On Wednesday, December 4, the court in Amsterdam will resume the civil lawsuit that the Dutch state is conducting against Van Lienden, Damme and Van Gestel. The government wants back the millions made from the face mask trade. The criminal case will start in the court in Rotterdam on December 19. The Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting the three ex-directors of the Auxiliary Alliance Foundation for fraud, embezzlement, forgery and money laundering.
