The Public Prosecution Service is not yet slowing down in the Richard de Mos case: Legal errors and unjustified conclusions in the judgment | Here are our top stories

The public prosecutor writes this in a motivation for the decision to appeal against the acquittal. A final decision to continue the lawsuit on appeal has yet to be taken, but the public prosecutor clearly has many and strong objections to the decision of the Rotterdam court.

The former aldermen Richard de Mos and Rachid Guernaoui of Hart voor Den Haag, just like a fellow party member and five accused entrepreneurs, were completely acquitted by the court of the charges of corruption, bribery and participation in criminal organizations.

“Any form of preferential position that a civil servant offers another in return for a gift, in principle, constitutes punishable bribery,” the Public Prosecution Service said. “A consequence of the court’s ruling is that the door is opened to bribery of officials with influence in the political arena.”

The OM also believes that the court ignores the fact that ‘on the basis of international obligations, a strict approach to every form of bribery is required, whereby the bar for evidence is not as high as it currently assumes’.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, the court ‘misunderstands that a donation to a political party gives any advantage’, the Public Prosecution Service believes, and ‘misunderstands that the consideration of the civil servant does not obviously and exclusively have to benefit the donor himself’.

It remains to be seen whether the Public Prosecution Service will actually pursue the case. Justice appealed to have more time to assess the extensive verdict in the complicated case. This so-called notice of appeal is the first substantive substantiation of the appeal, but it is still being weighed and weighed, the advocate general advises, the highest boss of the Public Prosecution Service participates in the decision.

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