Bar Association initiates investigation into Khalid Kasem issue | Domestic

‘The dean of the Amsterdam Bar Association has taken note of the articles in the media regarding Mr Kasem and will conduct further investigation based on the information contained therein. In principle, no announcements will be made about the content and outcome of that investigation, given confidentiality,’ reports Dean Barbara Rumora-Scheltema in a message to this site.

The AD is in possession of several recordings from 2019 that were most likely made by Peter R. de Vries, with whom Kasem had a law firm at the time. In these recordings, Kasem acknowledges that he bribed an official in his role as a lawyer. This would be a so-called selection officer. He works at the Judicial Institutions Agency (DJI) and examines, among other things, whether a detainee can be released from prison.

Kasem admits in the 2019 recordings that he accepted money with the aim of getting a detained client released earlier. Now Khalid Kasem denies everything in a written response: “Let it be clear that I have never been guilty of bribery, so I have not bribed an official at DJI nor have I ever attempted to do so.”

Not only Khalid Kasem plays a role in the case, but also the office that he runs at the time with Peter R. de Vries and his son Royce de Vries. After the two confronted Kasem with the bribery story, they decided to solve the problem by saying goodbye to the client in question. They discuss that if the issue ever comes out, they will simply deny it.

Khalid Kasem said in a response to this site on Friday that he had already reported to the supervisory authority for the legal profession before publication: “I have now contacted the Dean of the Amsterdam Bar Association to provide further detailed text and explanation. to provide.”

Royce de Vries also announced in advance that he will cooperate in any investigation: “Although neither my father nor I have been involved in any bribery, it was not ‘my’ case and I do not have the file, I will fully cooperate with a possible investigation, insofar as this is permitted on the basis of my confidentiality obligation.”

It is not only the Bar Association that is launching an investigation. The Judicial Institutions Service has also announced an investigation. “It is crucial that every DJI employee does his work with integrity. DJI takes reports of possible bribery very seriously. This signal is reason to conduct further investigation. We cannot make any substantive announcements while the investigation is ongoing.”