Ambulance Care Northern Netherlands refuses to share an audio recording of a 112 call in an Asser poisoning case with the Public Prosecution Service (OM). According to the ambulance service, professional secrecy outweighs the interests of investigation. “People must continue to dare to call 112.”
The issue was discussed today during a council chamber session in Assen. The Public Prosecution Service wants the tape of a telephone conversation that suspect Esmée D. had after she found the lifeless body of her boyfriend Ruben. The ambulance service refuses to release that recording.
According to lawyer Marleen van Mourik, this is a principled choice. “The violation of professional secrecy has far-reaching consequences,” she said in court. “Society must have full confidence in calling a care provider without medical information being passed on.”
She emphasized that breaking the legal privilege is only allowed in exceptional cases. “And that is not the case here.” According to her, the Public Prosecution Service already has sufficient evidence. “The resolution of the criminal proceedings is not only related to the issuance of this notification.”
It was 26-year-old Assense who found her boyfriend’s remains in his home on Zuidenveld on January 20 last year. The first thought was suicide. However, the Assense was still arrested on July 10. There were indications that Ruben had been poisoned with, among other things, an overdose of the hard drug MDMA.
According to the defense, the recording of the 112 report is at most supplementary. “That is not enough to break the right of non-disclosure,” says Van Mourik. According to her, any contradictions in statements can also be investigated in other ways.
The Public Prosecution Service sees this differently and calls the matter serious. “This is about murder. Refined, it seems to have been thought about,” said the prosecutor. According to him, the recording, which lasts 441 seconds, can help to test the suspect’s statements. “We do not know what exactly was reported and whether this is consistent with what she stated about this.”
According to the Public Prosecution Service, it is not about medical data. “A lot is already known about this,” said the officer. The focus is on what was said and done during the phone call.
During the conversation, the suspect allegedly found the victim’s phone. She previously stated: “I see the phone and press the button and the phone turns on. I immediately see that message.” According to her, she, together with a parent, read a farewell message from her ex-partner.
The Public Prosecution Service doubts that reading and states that the death may have looked like suicide. There are indications that the suicide note was drawn up by the suspect himself.
The credibility of the suspect is central to the case. It is striking that both she and the relatives have given permission to listen to the recording. “We believe that the victim would have given that consent if he were still alive,” the officer said.
Yet the ambulance service maintains its position. According to the organization, the importance of confidentiality outweighs the importance of the criminal investigation.
The council chamber will decide in two weeks whether the ambulance service should release the tape or not.
