A 40-year-old man from Amsterdam faces a prison sentence of 10 months for theft with violence in Emmen in March 2016. A renegade club member of the (now banned) motorcycle club No Surrender was forcibly taken from a telephone and a vest. A so-called bad-standing, in which the victim also had to pay a ‘fine’ of 5,000 euros to the club.
According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), the Amsterdammer arranged at the time for the relevant club member from Germany to come to the clubhouse in Emmen that day. He had to come to captain Henk Kuipers. The German had no idea why. On arrival he received a blow to the neck from Kuipers. When he turned around he was hit in the face. The man broke his jaw and nose.
Since 2014, the judiciary has been investigating malpractice within the motorcycle club. At the time of the beating of the German, eavesdropping equipment was hanging in the club building in Emmen. The telephones of various club members were also tapped, including that of the Amsterdammer. The officers heard the man calling his girlfriend about the beating in the clubhouse.
There are also sound recordings of the beating of the German. The audio tape was played at the end of 2020 during the session against Kuipers. It was rough. “Jakke aus”, Kuipers’ voice could be heard. “Afterwards, people laughed about smashing the nose, as if it were the most normal thing in the world,” the prosecutor said. The German did not dare to press charges for a long time, he was afraid of reprisals.
Not unusual within the motorcycle club, the prosecutor said. The motorcycle club was founded in 2013 and has grown into an organization of seven hundred members with various departments in the Netherlands and abroad. From 2016, Kuipers was the most important man within the club. In 2017, the police raided the clubhouse in Emmen, which was demolished shortly afterwards.
According to the OM, a culture of lawlessness and violence prevailed within the club. The government was kept out. Members who did not comply with the rules or otherwise had to be kicked out of the club had to hand over their self-purchased vests and sometimes also the motorcycle and pay a fine of 5,000 euros. This was not without abuse that led to broken bones and crushes.
The motorcycle club was therefore banned in the Netherlands in 2019. The court confirmed this ban in 2020. The prosecutor found on Tuesday, six years after the abuse within the club, a prison sentence of one year, but the passage of time must also be taken into account. The victim has undergone several facial operations and continues to suffer from paralysis to this day. A damage amount of more than 7600 euros can be awarded, according to the prosecutor.
Judgment is on January 16.