The Ministry of Health has made internal notes and e-mails about the controversial mouth cap deal with Sywert van Lienden public. Last month there was a lot of commotion about this when it turned out that the ministry would rather pay a penalty of 15,000 euros than release the messages.
De Volkskrant had asked for the messages in a so-called Woo procedure (Open Government Act) and was proved right by the judge. The messages should provide more insight into the role of senior officials in the so-called Sywert deal.
In it, the ministry bought mouth caps from Sywert van Lienden’s company for tens of millions of euros. At the time, the Netherlands was under the assumption that opinion maker Van Lienden would supply the mouth caps ‘free of charge’ through a foundation.
Released
After the commotion last month, ministers Ernst Kuipers and Conny Helder announced that they would still publish part of the communication. The internal notes and e-mails were released today on the day that the FIOD seized, among other things, financial assets in the criminal investigation into Sywert van Lienden and the other former directors of the Stichting Hulptroepen Alliantie (SHA).
The ministers still have to make a decision about the requested text and chat messages, they write to the House of Representatives tonight. They are expected to be published next month. In total, 5200 pages of chat messages were collected, according to the ministers.
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