Faith in justice shaken by DNA revelations

8 September 2005

AMSTERDAM — Fallout from the case of the man wrongfully convicted of the murder of Nienke Kleiss, 10, in Schiedam has shaken the public’s faith in the legal system in the Netherlands.

A new poll of 750 people has found 48 percent have confidence in the legal process. But of those who watched the revelations about the Schiedam case on news programme Netwerk on Monday, only 30 percent have faith in the system.

About 70 percent of the people who watched Netwerk believe the prosecution service (OM) deliberately concealed evidence of DNA that did not come from the defendant or the two victims, Nienke and her friend Maikel.

Half of the people who did not see the programme agreed the prosecution withheld the vital evidence from the court, newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ reported on Thursday.

A majority of both groups thinks the prosecution frequently conceals evidence favourable to the defence in serious criminal trials.

Cees B, 33, served four years of an 18-year sentence for Nienke’s murder. He was freed in January this year when another man admitted killing the girl.

Nienke and her 11-year-old friend Maikel were attacked by a man in the Beatrixpark in Schiedam in June 2000. Nienke was raped and murdered, but Maikel survived by pretending to be dead after he was severely assaulted.

Subject: Dutch news