The Public Prosecution Service will continue four men from Utrecht for spreading a so -called ‘Bangalist’. The OM announced this in a press release on Wednesday. It is a list of the Utrechtsch Studenten Corps (USC) that leaked in the spring of 2024. It contains names, photos and telephone numbers of women from the Utrecht women’s corps, UVSV. The photos have sexual, gross and insulting comments.
The list went around at lightning speed last March in the student world, mainly in group apps. The list, in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, is the name ‘Grieten presentation year 23’. On each slide there is a photo of a female student with comments, such as ‘just horny’ and ‘kk ordinary, well’. The second part of the list is granted to ‘dragons’, women who are assessed negatively by the makers. There are comments such as: “pffffff, very thick”.
Last April, Ina Brouwer, who as a lawyer assisted some of the victims, told that it had a lot of problems. “Panic attacks. Crying. Some students are unsubscribing at the university. They no longer want to study, away from Utrecht.” The students received dozens of phone calls a day and were harassed on the street.
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The four men, all members of the USC, are suspected of “spreading a document with insulting content” by the OM. Brouwer had also focused on persecution for Doxing, publishing with evil intentions of other people’s personal data. The Public Prosecution Service will not prosecute the USC members, says a spokesperson. “Doxing has only been punishable since January 1, 2024 and the list was already made and shared for the first time.”
Separate criminal case
In the investigation of the OM two more suspects emerged, but it was established that they did not spread the list. That is why their affairs are dismissed.
Lawyer Brouwer is happy with the OM’s decision, she leaves them NRC know. “It means that it realizes the seriousness of the situation. And it also gives society a signal that we really do not accept this.”
Two weeks after the ‘Grieten presentation’ was distributed, a second ‘Bangalist’ (literally: ‘slut list’) went around last year, which was very similar to the first. At the time, the USC denied any involvement in the second list. A 26-year-old Groninger was arrested for this case, who has no link with the Utrecht student world, the OM writes. He is suspected of threat, doxing and coercion. It is a ‘separate criminal case’ that will be applied to the courts later.
The suspects in the first case probably only have to appear in court next year, according to the OM spokesperson. “The defense now first has the opportunity to submit research wishes.”
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