Seven people who had previously received a warning from the Public Prosecution Service for their participation in a climate demonstration at Schiphol, today received a letter of apology from the Public Prosecution Service. They were not present at the demonstration.
The fault lies with the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the OM writes. The police service has ‘incorrectly determined’ that they were present at the demonstration. “The OM regrets that things did not go well here and will do everything possible to prevent this in the future. That is why the identification process of November 5, 2022 will be reviewed by the KMar.”
Marechaussees arrested hundreds of activists that day provided access to the platform at Schiphol-East, to demonstrate against the use of private jets. While some demonstrators chained themselves to private jets and a Canadian military transport, the rest of the demonstrators sat on the ground around the planes.
Investigation through social media
The police arrested a total of four hundred demonstrators, many of whom did not want to identify themselves. Ultimately it is everyone sent home, but the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee did continue the investigation into the identity. The identities of the demonstrators were established on the basis of police data and public sources (including social media accounts).
The OM decided to prosecute five of them, because they had chained themselves to the device. Although the rest (175 people) had also committed criminal offences, the OM issued a warning to them, which they received by letter. “The Public Prosecution Service can imagine that, despite a warning from the mayor (Marianne Schuurmans, ed.), these people may not have fully realized the risks,” the Public Prosecution Service previously wrote in a press release.
Of the 175 people who received the letter, 8 claimed that they had never participated in the demonstration. One of them is publicist Kirsten Verdel, who, after receiving the letter, questioned the KMar’s investigative method. She was at a wedding and in a playground that day, and wondered how the KMar had come to her.
This became (partly) clear to her after an invitation for an interview at the KMar. Based on photos from social media, they determined that she had been present at the climate demonstration. To her surprise, they showed her a picture of a woman she was sure wasn’t her.
The Public Prosecution Service now also knows for sure: 7 of the 8 people who claimed that they had been wrongly accused, acknowledges the OM that they were not present at the demonstration. “This misstep will be rectified and their personal data in the context of the demonstration on November 5, 2022 will be removed by the OM and the KMar. The investigation into the eighth person is still ongoing,” the OM said in the press release.
Read the full text of the letter of apology below.
Ir/Madam,
On July 12, 2023, the Public Prosecution Service sent you a warning letter in connection with the demonstration at Schiphol Airport on November 5, 2022. On [datum] did you inform the Public Prosecution Service that you were not present at the demonstration? The Public Prosecution Service has received the signal from several people that they were not present at that demonstration, and were wrongly associated with it. That was the reason for the Public Prosecution Service to have the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar) conduct a further investigation into the way in which the identification took place. You have this on [datum] had a conversation with the KMar. Based on these investigation results, I conclude that you were not present at the demonstration and that you wrongly received a warning letter from the Public Prosecution Service.
I deeply regret that. I offer you my sincere apologies for that.
I can well imagine that the letter of 12 July raises questions in your mind. Questions like ‘how did you get to know me as a person?’ and ‘what happens to my personal data? I will explain that further.
Background
During the demonstration at Schiphol, a group of more than 400 demonstrators gained access to the secured part of the airport by, among other things, destroying fences and climbing over them. In addition to criminal offences, this also endangered flight safety and all those involved, including the demonstrators themselves. That situation therefore had to be ended as soon as possible. Given the size of the group, the demonstrators were first given the opportunity to leave voluntarily, and some of them did. The remaining group of demonstrators remained on the airport grounds, a number of whom chained themselves to aircraft.
It has been decided to arrest this group of people. When an arrest is made, it is always checked who the person who has been arrested is. For a number of people this was successful, for part of the group it was not possible to determine the identity. These individuals had taken various measures to avoid being identified, such as applying glue to their fingertips and not carrying an ID. Because identification was not possible at that time, it was decided to take a photo of these persons and send them away.
Identification method
On the basis of the photos taken, the KMar then carried out further investigation to determine the identity of the persons who could not be identified. For this purpose, both closed sources (such as police information) and open sources (such as social media) were used. Part of the persons has been identified in this way. In the case of a number of persons, the Public Prosecution Service concludes afterwards that there was an incorrect identification and that mistakes were therefore made. Likewise with you. In your case [persoonlijke toelichting].
Next steps
This mistake will be rectified by deleting the registration of your personal data in the context of the demonstration on November 5, 2022. The KMar will take the same measures. With this you will no longer be associated with the demonstration on November 5, 2022.
I hope to have informed you sufficiently with the foregoing. Of course I can imagine that you still have questions. You can contact us for this.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. C. Fahner
Plv. chief prosecutor
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