THE HAGUE–No investigations are being carried out as a result of more than 200 statements against leader of centre-democrat party D66 Alexander Pechtold due to the donation of an apartment with a value of 135,000 euros. The Prosecutor General at the High Court concluded after an exploratory investigation that there are no facts and circumstances that give rise to a suspicion of an offense.
The Prosecutor’s Office has also discussed other alleged criminal offenses that were mentioned in the statements. After studying the documents, the Prosecutor’s Office concluded there is no suspicion of any criminal offense.
Earlier this year, more than 200 people submitted statements to both the Ministry of Security and Justice and the Prosecutor’s Office against Pechtold, who is currently leading a delegation of the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber during a visit to St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba.
The reports referred to the donation of an apartment to Pechtold in early 2017 by a befriended Canadian former diplomat. According to the reports, Member of Parliament (MP) Pechtold would have been guilty of, amongst other things, official bribery, or an offense against civil servants.
The ministry of Security and Justice forwarded the statements to the Attorney General at the High Court in The Hague in early April. This has been done in accordance with the protocol published earlier this year on the handling of reports of official offenses against ministers and MPs.
The Attorney General concluded after his investigation that there are no facts and circumstances that “objectively” give rise to a serious suspicion that Pechtold has accepted the apartment, while he knew or suspected that this gift was an attempt to influence him as an MP.
The Attorney General, therefore, saw no serious leads for a criminal investigation. The Minister of Security and Justice has informed the persons involved of this decision on Friday.
In the case of an official offense committed by a person in public service, the Prosecutor’s Office in the Netherlands is not competent to assess the statements. The Prosecutor’s Office has, however, looked into the other facts mentioned in the statements concerning forgery and tax evasion. After studying the documents, Prosecutors concluded that there is no suspicion of a criminal offense and no leads for a criminal investigation.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/78584-no-investigation-into-pechtold-s-apartment
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