• Home /
• Statewatch Database /
• Netherlands: Journalists "suspected"

Netherlands: Journalists "suspected"

01 November 1994

The Hague public prosecutor's office has stated that two journalists, members of the Opstand collective (see Statewatch vol 4 no 5), are under suspicion of being involved in 'Rara' activities.

The journalists are outspoken critics of the government's asylum policies. The 'Rara' is an anonymous Dutch group (or groups?) which over the past nine years has claimed several firesettings and bombings against Apartheid-related corporations, immigration authorities' offices, the Ministry of the Interior and others.

Investigation of the materials confiscated during the raids on 28 September are said to have produced 'indications' that the journalists have contributed to writing 'Rara' letters. In a rather unusual move, the prosecutor has warned the two that they can be arrested, but that he had no intention of doing so immediately.

Observers assume that the manoeuvre is meant to cause confusion among activists, which in turn could produce new leads. In this scenario, the unfortunate journalists simply serve as a decoy to elicit a reaction by the 'real' activists. In the present situation, they are tarnished as terrorists with no solid evidence being brought against them and without the opportunity of building up a legal defence. Several of the publications and broadcasting companies they were working for have already broken off contacts under the assumption that where there's smoke, there's fire.