B. saw himself as a disciple of Van D., but is certainly not a victim, Roggen emphasized, because the Austrian chose it himself, unlike the children. The OM also states that he is partly responsible for the deprivation of liberty of a compatriot who also worked for Van D.. He was tied up by B. and Van D., hanged and then locked up for a long time with hardly any food.
responsible
The Public Prosecution Service assumes that B. is fully accountable. The Austrian refused to cooperate in research in the Pieter Baan Center, so that the researchers have not been able to clarify whether, for example, he suffers from a disorder. He spent a total of one year in pre-trial detention. He was then allowed to await the trial in freedom. According to the Public Prosecution Service, that year must be deducted from the final prison sentence. However, the prosecutors demand that he must immediately return to jail after the verdict if the court has convicted him.
B. has denied the allegations from the start. He believes that the Public Prosecution Service has prosecuted him and Van D. because of their faith. Public prosecutor Gerard Veenstra contradicted this tonight, because according to him everyone is free to believe what they want. “But that freedom is not completely unlimited either. The faith initiated by father Van D., which B. also lived on, has gone off the rails,” he added. And the nine children have experienced the nasty consequences of this, according to the Public Prosecution Service.
Diaries and video images
For proof, the officers rely on the statements of all nine children, who were interrogated by the police and later twice by the examining magistrate (investigating judge, ed.) in Assen. Diaries of Gerrit Jan van D. have also been found, in which he literally describes situations that the children have also stated. It was about, among other things, the abuse and incarceration of the children. In addition, a lot of footage recorded by the self-proclaimed patriarch has been found. Images of this are also shown in the documentary The Children of Ruinerwoldin which the eldest four children participated.
Public prosecutor Gerard Veenstra explained about deprivation of liberty that this does not have to mean that the children were literally locked up. The eldest three children Shin, Mar Jan and Edino were also able to leave before the move to Ruinerwold. “Deprivation of liberty can be done in classic form by locking someone up, but also by making someone believe that his life is over when he leaves the plot.”
‘figurative lock on the door’
“The youngest six children were not registered, they actually did not exist. That choice was made for them. They never participated in society. Neither did the oldest three children. They went to school, but had to go home immediately, were they allowed to go home.” don’t go on school trips and don’t meet up with friends,” says Veenstra.
“No one has been able to develop a different opinion or conviction. They were locked up in the family system. Father, mother (deceased in 2004, ed.) or Josef B. were always nearby. It was impossible to think otherwise. If you have to live like that, you don’t have to be locked up literally to be deprived of your freedom. The system functioned as a figurative lock on the door.”
acquittal
Lawyer Yehudi Moszkowicz, who attempted to challenge the court this afternoon, pleads for acquittal. He emphasized that the actions of the Ruinerwoldvader Josef B. cannot be blamed. He also stated that B. himself was mistreated by Van D.. “He has devoted his life to the service of the family.” Moreover, the youngest five children have hardly ever seen B., according to Moszkowicz. Only Israel had contact with the ‘handyman’, after Van D. had a stroke in 2016.
In his last word, B. said that he has said nothing, because he no longer has faith in the rule of law. “The government bulldozed me. What else do I have to do? I did my best to help. My stuff was stolen from the workshop, it’s one big disaster. I don’t think the rule of law exists anymore in The Netherlands. That shit story about those children in the basement, that’s why it has become world news. And now there has to be a guilty person. They can’t interrogate D. and now they come to me. I’m done with it.”
The court will rule on June 14.