In this way, the VVD has rid itself of a thorny issue. PVV leader Geert Wilders put Sahla in the spotlight during the debate on the government statement. He accused the liberals of hiring someone as an adviser “who was on his way with a revolver to kill Hirsi Ali and me.” The VVD did not seem to know what to do with the criticism and in any case did not take a square behind Sahla.
VVD chairman Hoes says in the statement that the party board has “approved” of Sahla’s decision. The party felt “discomfort” because Sahla has not previously expressed “public regret” for her past.
Former member of the Hofstad group
Sahla is a former member of the Hofdstad group. In 2008, the Court in The Hague sentenced her to four years in prison for illegal possession of weapons and ‘participation in an organization whose object is to commit terrorist crimes’. The Supreme Court overturned this ruling in 2011 and referred the case back to the Amsterdam court. The judgment there (three years) was eventually confirmed by the Supreme Court in January 2016.
After VVD party leader in the House of Representatives Sophie Hermans had already said in the debate on the government statement that Sahla did not have a Kamerpas or was employed by the party, she let her know on Sunday. WNL on Sunday know that the presence of Sahla in the VVD gives her an ‘uncomfortable feeling’. ‘You can look at it in a very constitutional way: convicted, sentenced, period. However, I think we should think about this. It’s a dilemma.’
Sahla has now freed the party from that dilemma. She remains a member of the VVD. She also says she regrets the ‘black pages in my life’. ‘But the commotion that has arisen is getting in the way of my positive contribution at the moment.’
More later.