In a registered letter of fifteen pages, Van Dijk’s lawyer strongly criticizes the investigation by the Rotterdam research bureau Bezemer & Schubad. That agency concluded last week that it is ‘essentially plausible’ that Van Dijk treated women ‘cross-border’ or ‘undesirably’. The PvdA has indicated that Van Dijk will therefore no longer be allowed to return to the House of Representatives fraction if a seat becomes available again.
Van Dijk now says through his lawyer that the investigation report is ‘careless and below par’. “The conclusions are unbalanced and completely disproportionate, given the seriousness of the original allegations that were made,” says lawyer Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm. According to the lawyer, the researchers ‘deliberately caused damage’ to Van Dijk. He holds the agency liable for this.
The PvdA MP resigned in February after accusations of undesirable behavior were made against him. Among other things, he would have several girlfriends at the same time. Van Dijk himself pointed out that this was only happening in his private life and later accused the party of not being told why he was being asked to resign.
According to the research bureau, Van Dijk did not adhere to the internal PvdA standards from the party’s code of conduct. It states, among other things, that ‘outsiders usually do not distinguish between behavior during working hours and behavior in private time’ and PvdA politicians are also ‘ambassadors of the party’ outside working hours. That according to Van Dijk it was only about ‘behaviour in the private sphere’, according to the research agency, is ‘unconvincing’.
Van Dijk now demands that the research agency post a rectification stating that it cannot be objectively established that he is guilty of transgressive behaviour. He also demands a copy of the final report and he wants to see the agency’s permit, which shows that the Bezemer & Schubad may conduct research into persons. Last week, Van Dijk already announced that he will appeal against the decision of the PvdA to reprimand him.