The Dutch State does not feel responsible for the fact that former coffee shop pioneer Johan van Laarhoven from Tilburg spent years in a Thai cell. This became apparent on Monday during a lawsuit filed by Van Laarhoven. According to Van Laarhoven, the State provoked him to spend years in the dirty and dangerous Thai cell. He ultimately wants compensation of 44 million euros, but the last word has not yet been said on that.
“Things are better now than when I was in custody. But I have many physical and psychological complaints. And I can no longer open a bank account due to the lies of the Public Prosecution Service,” Van Laarhoven said at the start of the trial. “I can no longer buy a house. I have lost my family. I feel like persona non grata.”
The court chairman read Van Laarhoven’s stories about gang rapes and suicides in Thai prison and called them ‘horrifying’. It was degrading what the Tilburg citizen experienced, everyone fully agrees on that. But who is responsible for that? The Thai police who arrested him? Or did the Netherlands also have a dubious role in this?
Van Laarhoven’s lawyers argue that false information was deliberately presented to the Thai authorities and that he was portrayed as a ‘drug lord’. An email from a Breda prosecutor had the following effect: ‘For years he had the pleasures of the country, now the burdens’.
“A course of action that is ruthlessly cruel. A devilish plan,” said one of Van Laarhoven’s lawyers. The arrest of Johan van Laarhoven and Tukta also happened against the background of a military coup in Thailand. Human rights were hard to find in a country where the death penalty exists.
Why was Johan van Laarhoven in a cell in Thailand?
Van Laarhoven has lived in Thailand since 2008. There was a criminal investigation against him. He is said to have siphoned away millions through his coffee shops in Tilburg and Den Bosch. Also to Thailand.
In 2014, the police and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) in Breda asked colleagues in Thailand for information and provided explanations. But the Thais arrested Johan and his partner Tukta. They were sentenced to extremely high sentences and were imprisoned until the summer of 2020.
While Johan van Laarhoven and Tukta suffered in Thai prison, actions started in the Netherlands. Brother Frans called police officers and prosecutors to account. Witness hearings have been ongoing since 2016. The National Ombudsman ruled that the Netherlands acted negligently.
The State had its own lawyers in the room on Monday. They emphasized that they believed there was a good reason to take action against Van Laarhoven. “In the investigation of serious criminal offenses, at some point we came across branches abroad,” the lawyer said. “The suspicion was that he controlled the criminal organization from there.”
“The State did not push for prosecution in Thailand. The interests were taken into account. The state cannot be blamed for the punishment for acts there.” Johan van Laarhoven was listening and threw his hands in the air and said: “Lies, lies, lies, it’s driving me crazy!”
The government’s lawyer also mentioned that the criminal case ended with fines, community service and a million confiscation that was paid, also by Johan van Laarhoven.
“I keep saying I haven’t done anything criminal.”
Johan is still angry about that, he said. “The Public Prosecution Service forced us at knifepoint to sign a settlement. If we did not accept that, they would keep us in court for another fifteen years. I am 65, so I would be there until 80. And all assets were seized and we also had to pay the lawyer. And they wanted to close all the coffee shops. I keep saying that I have not done anything criminal.”
Van Laarhoven wants his life back, he said. He spoke of ‘a never-ending avalanche of misery’. He was also assisted during the hearing by brother Frans who always sat next to him. Ex-wife Tukta listened via video connection and had the same message as Johan: my life is broken, I want justice. At the end, Johan van Laarhoven was unable to say anything and became emotional.
The court will decide in February whether the actions of the police and the judiciary, in other words: the State of the Netherlands, were acceptable. It is unknown whether the judges will also decide on the damage claim. Last year, 44 million euros was already mentioned as compensation, but that was not discussed at this hearing.
In this video we explain the Van Laarhoven case in full:
