Podcast makers Yves Gijrath and Erik de Vlieger apologized on Wednesday for the suggestion that Jaap van Dissel is corrupt. “Based on the sources we have had, Van Dissel is certainly not guilty of corruption,” says De Vlieger in the most recent podcast episode. The two deny that they have accused Van Dissel of this.
At the beginning of September, the two discussed a bank statement that would indicate that the RIVM director had received 750,000 euros from Open Netherlands, the foundation that arranged the testing for access. “That document is clear evidence,” De Vlieger said at the time, but added that he was “not one hundred percent” sure whether it was correct. A “gift to the Dutch media” to do further research, De Vlieger saw the episode.
Alternative media spread the suspicions further and Gideon van Meijeren, Member of Parliament on behalf of the Forum for Democracy, requested a debate about it. NRC examined the document and found it extremely dubious: it turned out to be impossible to transfer money to the stated account number, the balance was incorrect and the bank’s address had a typo.
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