The request for prosecution of former Speaker of the House Vera Bergkamp was rejected by the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon after advice from a group of MPs led by Caroline van der Plas (BBB). That ‘Preparatory Group’ had to find out how substantial the suspicion against Bergkamp and others is in the issue surrounding the leak to NRC from the Presidium, the executive board of the House of Representatives.
In 2022, before Khadija Arib was formally informed, NRC published the news that there would be an investigation into her leadership style during her period as Speaker of the House, from 2016 to 2021. The basis for this was an advice from the State Attorney, seen by NRC. Arib resigned as a PvdA MP and has since accused her successor Bergkamp of “a stab in the back”. Bergkamp (D66) did not return to Parliament after the November 2023 elections, she was not eligible for re-election.
Acquittal of spokesperson
As Speaker of the House, Bergkamp reported leaks almost immediately after the report in NRC. After years of investigation, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) deemed it proven, based on, among other things, telephone records and witness statements, that Bergkamp’s then spokesperson must have been the leaker. After the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence for this, the suspicion of several MPs shifted to Bergkamp himself. The criminal file surrounding the spokesperson’s case, which was published by various media last summer, provided fuel for this. Bergkamp was heard as a witness by the police.
Also read
Chamber is preparing for unprecedented steps in the Arib case: ‘Fooled is an understatement’
The Public Prosecution Service may not conduct an investigation into suspicion of official misconduct by a representative, such as Bergkamp. That authority lies with the Attorney General at the Supreme Court, who must receive instructions from the Cabinet or the House of Representatives. At least five MPs are required to submit a request for this, after which the House will consider it. Five then PVV MPs, led by Gidi Markuszower, who split from the PVV last month, submitted this request in September.
However, the criminal file, which the group of MPs had access to, appears to be insufficient basis for the ‘Preparatory Group’ to recommend a prosecution. “It cannot be established on the basis of the available criminal file and the accompanying documents that a confidential decision was leaked to the press by or on behalf of the President of the House,” wrote the group presented to the House last week. Two members of the group, PVV member Chris Jansen and FVD member Gideon van Meijeren, still wanted positive advice on the prosecution request. Their factions were therefore still in favor of a prosecution against Bergkamp, as was the Markuszower group, which split off from the PVV this month.
Last fall, the House adopted a motion to investigate broader follow-up steps. A majority felt that an investigation into all then-presidium members should also be explored, because they could potentially all have been the leak. The ‘Preparatory Group’ concludes that this broader approach will also lead to nothing.
Apps cleared
In the criminal file to the spokesperson, where Follow the Money, News hour and de Volkskrant published last June, it turned out that Bergkamp deleted app conversations with her spokesperson. The clerk, the highest boss of the civil service in the House of Representatives, also instructed the secretary of the Speaker of the House, with Bergkamp’s knowledge, to delete the advice of the State Attorney from the ‘sent items’. According to Bergkamp, this was all a precaution to prevent digital spread, while she had deleted the apps because the spokesperson no longer worked for her. The clerk called Bergkamp “a remover” in her police interrogation.
Bergkamp also had contact with the Housing Director and the spokesperson on the day of publication of the news about the investigation into Arib, according to telephone data analyzed by the investigation, who in turn were in contact with an NRC journalist. However, Bergkamp no longer knew what this was about, she told the police.
Shortly after the commotion surrounding the announced investigation into Arib in the autumn of 2022, the clerk resigned from the top officials of the House of Representatives and became a member of the National Police. She returned last week after illness, but is no longer active in the leadership. “As a strategic advisor, she will carry out assignments within or outside the police organization,” reported the police last week.
The investigation into Arib’s behavior was ultimately completed in 2023 by Hoffmann Bedrijfsrecherche, which revealed that many of the claims in two anonymous complaint letters were confirmed by several people who work or worked for the House of Representatives. In the case that the former Speaker of the Chamber subsequently brought against Hoffmann and the State, the judge ruled that the investigation complied with the regulations and was “lawful”. Arib’s appeal against this ruling is still pending.
The journalistic principles of NRC
