Comments on the Case

“I have written to Baroness Symons, who is the Minister responsible… and will keep you informed of the response I receive.” Glenys Kinnock MEP

“Further to our exchange in the LIBE committee of the European Parliament, I write to you with a sense of urgency concerning the case of Mr. Kevin Sweeney.” Letter from Baroness Ludford MEP, to Mr. Donner, Dutch Minister of Justice.

“Are you aware of this case and what actions are you taking to investigate Mr. Sweeney’s accusations?  …he has not only had to cope with the death of his wife, but a gross miscarriage of justice.” Letter from Struan Stevenson MEP, to Mr. Donner, Dutch Minister of Justice.

“I and my colleagues in the European Parliamentary Labour Party are aware of the case of Mr. Sweeney and of the important issues involved. We have raised the matter with the UK government, urging ministers to do all they can in the UK’s official relations with the government of The Netherlands…” Phillip Whitehead MEP

“… I have been following closely the correspondence between various official authorities about your case. I have great sympathy for your predicament.” Andrew Duff MEP

“… the appalling conviction of Kevin Sweeney in the Netherlands, convinces UK citizens, I believe, that we are best served by maintaining the procedures and bulwarks of our common law based system, rather than trading it in for the flawed continental model.

Kevin Sweeney, a British citizen, was sentenced to 13 years in the Netherlands, having been acquitted of the same offence years earlier. His trial was internationally denounced as a travesty.” Jim Allister, QC, MEP

“My attention has been drawn, by a number of different people, to the situation of Kevin Sweeney, a British national currently in prison in the Netherlands.

It has been put to me that Mr. Sweeney, having been initially acquitted of charges in a Dutch court, was subsequently found guilty in a re-trial in circumstances in which the defence case was not fully put (as he was told that the re-trial was just a formality).

These allegations are astonishing in the context of a well respected democracy such as the Netherlands. If true, they would constitute a significant discredit to the Dutch legal system.”     Richard Corbett MP in a letter to Dutch Prime Minister  Balkenende.

“…my very best wishes for a fair trial.” Sir Sydney Chapman MP

“I was glad to hear of the progress which has been made over your endeavours to obtain a fair trial in the Netherlands. I do hope that further progress will be made soon…”  Sir Teddy Taylor MP

“I wrote to the Foreign Office…” Clare Short MP

“… will continue to monitor the situation…” Ann Widdecombe MP

“I would be very interested to hear what action the British Government is taking to assist Mr. Sweeney.” Jenny Tonge MP

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently assured me that it will continue to provide Mr. Sweeney with proper consular assistance.” Geoffrey Robinson MP

“I did have an exchange of letters with Baroness Symon at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office… I would be ready to support any initiative…” John Thurso MP

“I duly raised this matter with the Dutch Prime Minister… I am now in touch with the UK Prime Minister’s office enquiring into the action which he proposes to take…” Andrew Hunter MP

“If I can be of any further assistance to you…” Peter Robinson MP, MLA

“ … [In] your case the last legal resort rests in the case of breaches of ECHR in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and in the case of European Law in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. In the event of political concern and scrutiny the relevant bodies are National Parliaments and the European Parliament.” Lord Inglewood DL, House of Lords.

“We receive numerous letters regarding Mr. Sweeney’s situation… Our consular staff in London and Amsterdam are aware of Mr. Sweeney’s case.”  Letters to several British MPs from Baroness Symons, Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

“We are aware of Kevin Sweeney’s predicament. I will also bring your letter to the attention of the Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir Colin Budd.” Letter to British MPs from the British Consul General.

“If I were the Dutch Minister of Justice I would be very ashamed of the state of justice in the Netherlands.”  Member of the German Bundestag.

“The Netherlands is a police state.”  Senior British diplomat.

“The Dutch don’t know they are in Europe they think they are in South America.”  Senior French diplomat.

“The Dutch don’t realise that its 2004, they think its 1944. State injustice cannot be tolerated in the 21st century.”  Senior U.S. State Department diplomat.

“European Union politicians and institutions are sometimes embarrassed by the presence of the Netherlands in the European Union…”  Member of the European Parliament.

“ …the Dutch government have been humiliated in the British Parliament and the European Parliament.” British Member of the European Parliament.

“ …businessmen, investors and tourists will realise that they are not safe in the Netherlands as they also may be subjected to arbitrary ‘justice’ – or indeed, mindless injustice!”  European Union Commissioner.

“The Dutch authorities must understand that they are internationally accountable and that an international standard of justice must be observed in the Netherlands. Frankly neither I, nor the British government, are willing to play an obscure novum game in some Dutch judicial casino. The situation is very clear and explicit; if a conviction is unsafe then there must be a re-trial. And, it must be a fair trial. Anything less is not internationally acceptable. The games of obstruction and obfuscation played by the Dutch authorities are simply not tolerable.” Former British Prime Minister

“The Netherlands had at one time a reputation for human rights and fairness; yet seemingly overnight, with the rise of domestic repression, the Dutch people have forgotten the lessons of their own history and have moved towards cruelty and the rejection of the Rule of Law.   Once the nations of Europe had confidence in the Netherlands, that confidence has been betrayed.” Member of the Swedish Parliament.

“There are now in the European Court of Human Rights a greater number of complaints against the Netherlands than against countries like Turkey. If Turkey is being kept out of the European Union on the basis of human rights abuses, then why has the Netherlands not been suspended from membership of the European Union?” Member of the Italian Parliament.

“With a growing body of evidence of Human Rights abuses in the Netherlands, certain European judicial initiatives, like the European Arrest Warrant, are being questioned as to the safeness of sending accused persons to the Netherlands. No national parliament can legislate sending their citizens to the knackers yard of Dutch justice when Dutch courts evidently pervert the course of justice so arrogantly and with such contempt for the rule of law. If the Netherlands manifestly refuse to allow defendants a fair trial then one cannot justify sending accused persons to that jurisdiction.

It has been assumed by many national parliaments that there is propriety and equity amongst all European judicial systems. Consequently, citizens may be exported like livestock to various judicial abattoirs. Yet, before parliaments rubber stamp this particular bill of lading for the cattle trucks to take away their citizens for slaughter, one must consider the human rights abuses in the Netherlands.

If indeed there is now a political policy that citizens should not be allowed a fair trial, legal representation or the right to defend themselves, then this should be clearly stated. If citizens have no more rights than cattle then the public should be told. We can accordingly resign ourselves to the fact that history shows that European justice and democracy does at times swing from the light into the dark and that arguably in the Netherlands, history is moving not forwards into the 21st Century, but back into the 1930s and 1940s. History illustrates that the cattle trucks of Europe may be used equally for livestock as for people.

If however one does rage at the dying of the light, then one must do all that is possible to encourage and cajole the Netherlands to turn away from despotism and to return to the fold of western democracy.” Member of the British House of Lords and QC.