lawyers amazedThere is a rush for pardon requests now that it has become known that former television presenter Frank Masmeijer, who was convicted of drug trafficking, has been pardoned for reasons that are still unclear. That is what Jaap Brandligt expects from Bonjo, an interest group for (ex-)prisoners. Some lawyers are already receiving calls from clients asking what this might mean for their case.
“I find it really astonishing,” says Brandligt. “We really don’t understand this. It is incomprehensible and very unusual. This really never happens unless there is a serious illness or death within the family. If I may believe Masmeijer’s reaction, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I can well imagine that a somewhat sensible prisoner now thinks: if Masmeijer can achieve this, then I will go for it. In fact, I would wholeheartedly recommend them.”
Phone red hot
The Ministry of Justice and Security does not want to say why Masmeijer was pardoned. A spokesperson refers to the court that assessed the request for a clemency. According to him, the ministry does not make any statements about individual cases. When asked, the court said it could say nothing. “The advice of the court is given to the king (ministry) and is not public. The king decides,” said a spokesman. The Government Information Service, which is the spokesperson on behalf of the king, does not want to respond to the matter substantively, but says that everything went according to the rules.
The lack of transparency is a very bad thing, say lawyers. “This is weird and bad. No transparency. Then they should not complain if they are accused of class justice and are overloaded with new requests for clemency,” said counsel Job Knoester. At fellow lawyer Mark-Jan Bouwman the telephone is red hot. “Today I have been called five times by detained clients or their families with the question whether this is also possible in their case.”
According to Bouwman, this is the result of the lack of transparency. “I don’t think it’s clear at all what exactly happened,” said Bouwman. For lawyer Johan Muhren, the whole case raises many questions. ,,Grace usually only takes place in special and serious personal circumstances. I wholeheartedly wish it for Masmeijer, but I also wish it very much for all my clients with long prison sentences.”
Trade in cocaine
Masmeijer was sentenced by a Belgian judge to nine years in prison for involvement in the cocaine trade. He served the last part of his sentence in the Netherlands. Masmeijer himself announced today that he has been pardoned and is therefore free again. His lawyer has confirmed that. “He has designed a new life plan that was apparently very appealing to the authorities in the Netherlands,” lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops told this site.
Knoops has not yet had contact with Masmeijer. It is not known to either of them what the reason for the pardon is. “The special thing is that the decision always remains extremely brief. The content of the pardon policy reveals little about the exact reasons,” said the lawyer. What exactly were the motives for the pardon remains unknown. The king also does not interfere with the entire procedure in terms of content, he only makes his scribble.”
Court is leading
Requests for clemency are submitted to the judge and the Public Prosecution Service for assessment. On the basis of their advice, Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) takes a decision. His spokesperson says that the advice of the court is ‘always leading’. “The minister must come up with a very good motivation to put that aside.”
A decree to grant a pardon is also signed by King Willem-Alexander. But the Government Information Service also does not want to make any substantive announcements about this case. The signature of the head of state only endorses the fact that a decision has been ‘made in accordance with the applicable procedures and laws and regulations’.
A lawyer who regularly submits requests for clemency on behalf of convicts is Sidney Smeets. “For example, I now have a case of someone who was convicted years ago, now has a completely different life and takes care of his sick mother. He has to go to jail, but the chance of pardon is small.” That was also the case with the Johan van Laarhoven case, says Smeets. “Draconian punishment in Thailand and co-blame of the Public Prosecution Service, but no pardon. In that sense, this is somewhat surprising.”
The VVD has asked parliamentary questions about the issue, says MP Ulysse Ellian.
Council: pardon by king not exceptional
It regularly happens that King Willem-Alexander grants a pardon, as happened today with former presenter Frank Masmeijer. That is the opinion of the Council for the Judiciary in a response to the ANP. How special it is that this happens in a serious offense – such as cocaine smuggling, for which Masmeijer was convicted – is difficult to say. The Ministry of Justice and Security (JenV) makes public how often pardons are granted, but not in what cases that happens.
Figures from JenV show that 657 requests for clemency were made last year, of which 131 were granted. The year before, 87 of the 558 clemency requests were granted.
So the granting of pardons happens more often. Last year, the king pardoned Cevdet Yılmaz. In 1983 he was sentenced to life in prison for shooting six people in café ‘t Koetsiertje in Delft. He was released after almost 38 years. Another example comes from 1986. Then Queen Beatrix pardoned Hans van Z., who had been sentenced to life imprisonment almost twenty years earlier for three robbery murders.
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