After more than forty years in the TBS, Henk was released. But few people experience that. The Bredanaar was one of the ‘Top 10’ of longest -serving TBS people in our country. He managed to face his past. “It wasn’t easy. Suddenly the penny fell with him. Henk gets all credits, “says his lawyer.
At the moment there are an estimated 1600 people with all kinds of disorders in the TBS system. The intake is increasing. But you can also come out. If you change, just like Henk.
“It’s about bringing the crime danger down. So people learn to deal with the disorder, which means they are less likely to derail ”. That’s what Abdel Ytsma, Henk’s lawyer. Ytsma and his office colleagues from Bureau TBS Advocaten from Amsterdam assist around 15 percent of the 1,600 TBS states in the Netherlands.
Disorder
“The disorder itself is not that important. Some are born that way, some people develop like this. TBS is not meant to cure people. ” That is also the message of the TBS clinics in the Netherlands.
TBS was ultimately intended to reduce the recurrence hazard and not to turn the convicted out of model citizens.
Exceptional
Henk is now 72. With him, the signals had long been green. Experts see unanimously that he has changed positively.
He belongs to the people who finally flowed out, as it is called. There are quite a few. Every year between 110 and 130 people, according to the official figures of the DJI (Department of Custodial Institutions). A TBS takes around 9.5 years on average. In that respect, Henk with his more than 40 years is an exceptional case.
Quietly
Incidentally, such a release almost always happens silently. The outside world, such as journalists and victims, rarely follow someone until the end. “They usually go out quietly and anonymously,” says Ytsma.
At Henk it seemed to go a completely different direction for a long time. The door to the outside was tight. He had even moved to the Lungstay In the village of Zeeland. That is often seen as the end station. There are TBS people who hardly get ahead. “The treatment pressure is low,” as the institution describes it. Henk lived there for more than ten years and could have age there.
And then came the breakthrough. “After a while, Henk saw what kind of suffering he had done. The penny fell. For some it catches on and then they see the light ”.
Step
From 2017 he made steps that were steps: literally. “You start with supervisors and employees around you. First you go outside with people from justice, then with employees of the clinic. Subsequently, freedom of movement is increasing. From a hundred meters around the institution to a kilometer, “Ytsma explains.
“Step by step, the circle is getting bigger and bigger. From local leave to nationally guided leave. The next step is unaccompanied leave. First work leave and then relaxation leave. You grow in it. They sometimes say: go shopping for the department. Is especially getting used to and then you also see crazy things. ”
Also read: Henk released after more than 40 years TBS: ‘Success in your further life’
Lines
They also get what happens outside. There is just television in the clinic. As a recurring TBS person you are under a magnifying glass. “Every fart that you leave, so to speak, is recorded in daily reports.” Your life consists of rules and agreements.
Lawyer Ytsma emphasizes that returning to society is therefore not suddenly going. “They are not completely surprised. It is not like someone who awakens from a coma. “
He sees that TBS people often experience a sense of distance. “That they don’t mean anything anymore, for example for their children and in society on a sideline”.
Strip card
For Henk, but also for other people in TBS, it takes some getting used to getting into a different world after all these years. “There is no more strip card in public transport but an OV pass.”
Most are even surprised when they travel by public transport. In the past, passengers looked outside in bus and train. Now they have their head down en masse, staring on their cell phone. “That was also a strange sensation for Henk.” But in the meantime Henk also has one and he knows how it works.
Henk has left the strict rules of the clinics behind. He agreed with the Bredanaar that they will keep in touch. “He remains welcome, he can always call me for questions and help.”
What is TBS?
TBS is imposed by a court. It is not a punishment, but a measure. Prisoners experience it as punishment, because they are not free.
TBS is intended to protect society against dangerous prisoners with a disorder. They often receive a prison sentence in advance before they enter the treatment. Most TBS people are men. There are about eighty women in the clinics.
There are many forms of TBS. The best known is the heaviest, that with compulsory nursing. The court looks at how a TBS person is doing at the latest every two years, what still needs to be done and whether treatment should take longer. That can be lifelong. Judges are increasingly imposing TBS. As a result, the system is under strong pressure and the waiting lists grow.