West has approached the family members for cooperation on the book. But they want nothing to do with it. Their counsel, the Meppel lawyer Henk Ruis, calls it ‘a gossip book’, even though he has to admit that he does not yet know the exact content.
“But it is clear that this multi-writer, with eight books in a few years, is busy with gossip. She had approached an acquaintance of Anneke with a voice message via Whatsapp. That was a gossip that she gave, with all kinds of strange suspicions about abuses in Anne’s family.”
This prompted Mioch and her family members to take legal action to prevent them from being mentioned by name in the book. “So next week there will be a lawsuit from ‘those who do not want to be named’, and they have that right,” said lawyer Ruis.
The fact that years ago Anneke Mioch herself regularly visited the media in this missing person case, and that it will soon be possible to trace it easily in the book without mentioning her name, just like her daughter, is irrelevant, says Ruis. It concerns the right to the protection of personal data.
“At the time, she was actively tracking down Willeke. Not now. And more than 31 years after this deeply sad disappearance case, raking up everything again with such a clutter book, who benefits from that? I don’t think anyone will.”
Writer Marja West remains silent and refers ‘in consultation’ to her Amsterdam publisher Luitingh-Sijthoff. But director Febe van der Wardt of the publishing house does not want to comment on the matter. “We’re waiting for the lawsuit first.”
The case will be heard in court in Amsterdam next Wednesday.