During the farmer’s protest on 5 July along the A32 near Heerenveen, the officer shot aimed at the tractor in which 16-year-old Jouke was sitting. The bullet did not hit the boy. The officer involved thought the boy wanted to drive into his colleagues and feared for their safety. Initially, Jouke was arrested on suspicion of attempted manslaughter, but the case was later dropped.
After an investigation by the National Criminal Investigation Service, the Public Prosecution Service concludes that the agent “uses his firearm in such a way that there are sufficient reasons for the Public Prosecution Service to investigate an attempted manslaughter.” Once the investigation has been completed, the Public Prosecution Service will decide whether it will actually prosecute and, if so, whether there will be a lawsuit.
Watch the moment in question below. Article continues below the video.
The name and age of the agent have not been disclosed by the Public Prosecution Service for security reasons. Images are circulating on social media in which it is incorrectly reported that it concerns the officer who shot.
The National Criminal Investigation Department also investigated the actions of two other agents that day. It concerns one officer who fired a warning shot and another who drew the weapon and aimed it at a person. These two officers also did not act ‘in accordance with the official instructions’. “Yet the officer sees no reason to proceed with a criminal investigation, because they did not fire with aim. The police will handle this internally,” said the Public Prosecution Service.