Cotofenesti’s golden helmet and two of the three stolen bracelets have been found and will be returned to Romania, the country that owns the collection, as soon as possible. This was announced yesterday during a major press conference in Assen.
The return of the art treasures turned out to have been arranged through a so-called trial agreement between the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the suspects. One bracelet is still missing.
Trial agreements are a way in which the Public Prosecution Service and suspects negotiate with each other in criminal cases. They agree on what the suspect will do, for example returning items, and what the Public Prosecution Service will give in return, such as a lower sentence. Laura Peters, associate professor of Criminal Law at the University of Groningen, explains that these agreements are only final if the judge approves them. “In practice, the Public Prosecution Service can, for example, demand a lower sentence or make certain facts count less heavily,” she says.
Process agreements have not existed for very long in the Netherlands. The first attempts were in 2019, but they failed. They have been used more often since 2021 and at the end of 2022 the Supreme Court gave the green light for them, under certain conditions. Peters explains that a process agreement does not mean that anything can be agreed upon. For example, there must always be sufficient evidence, and a suspect must have a lawyer.
The idea is that such a deal saves time for both the Public Prosecution Service and the court. Instead of an extensive process, in which all details and witnesses are discussed, the most important agreements are recorded. This way, everyone knows more quickly where they stand and the case can be completed more quickly. Process agreements have been used in Drenthe for a few years now, especially in complex cases such as drugs and fraud cases. In the case of the art theft, the biggest benefit is of course the return of the valuable helmet and bracelets.
