Two passed the threshold and in principle got a mandate. The other 16 unelected replacements, as a whole, accumulated 1768 votes. Equivalent to 1,5 seat in the City Council. #Maastricht (some seats recycled twice)  tinyurl.com/hf2db6p

Is the Mayor (as chairman) really authorized to order Council Members to hand in their phones and that they be followed to the toilet and "guarded" outside the door? http://tinyurl.com/yck3rcp2

#Maastricht

 What LU Med School envisions in its new policy is a relaxed, easy to get along with doctor, who feels no “unnecessary pressure to perform”, which is “beneficial to his or her well being”. tinyurl.com/57u6h3pp

So what is the current state of hospital care? Not up to par with the (international) medical standard, study finds.

Progress too frequently obstructed by an outdated poldermodel, in which the Compromise is leading and hospitals’ interests are divided just about evenly: between the doctors, the board and thirdly, the patients.

But if the underachieving hospitals and its doctors knowingly and willfully keep patients in the dark about better, potential life saving treatment elsewhere, as researcher Maike Schepens points out, she touches on something that exceeds the span of healthcare. And probably has a more appropriate place in the penal code.

De Volkskrant 11 Feb. 2024:

The Sander Selen documentary (L1) from 2023 intended to inform the public about daily life and the “human aspect” inside the TBS clinic. A rather unanticipated element entered the picture, from the first minute on. Every which way Selen pointed the camera, he captured an elephant in the room. 

tinyurl.com/7sx8pd2u

Thijs H’s lawyer now also is a judge, appointed by the same justice dept. that brought charges against his client. Interesting publication on the law firm’s website, which essentially is a reiteration of the prosecutor’s case. https://t.co/Idoxyk4TJQ pic.twitter.com/Taii5vkSe2

— Eduard van Diemen (@eduardvandiemen) July 15, 2023

I was reading an article on Vara.nl in which the Brunssum PD asked the public “not to stand in our way with your nonsense”. An argument against misinformation online, which in fact sounds more like a (recurring) rant. No substantiation, no concrete examples, what is left between the lines is a heap of frustration.

It actually is a demand for faith and trust. The kind that is reminiscent of pre-internet days, rooted in the all encompassing oath; the police officer as the writer of the truth, and nothing but the truth. 

A position they still feel very much entitled to. In an environment where checks & balances are so unashamedly disregarded: total absence of body cams and dashcams, 112 calls remain undisclosed, interrogations unrecorded, just to name a few. 

As the landscape changed, however, and each individual became their own publisher, the public started to fill in the gaps. The range of attributes authorities wield at those who provide “unsolicited” input is remarkable, writer of nonsense being one of the milder ones. But if that input just so happens to be directly contradicting the oath, the spotlight is quickly redirected, at the authorities themselves.

In response to which the PDs start yelling, handing out fines and even paying home visits. That’s when you know the counterweight against this Policing On Good Faith approach is firmly in place. The angrier these officers get, you could say, the better it works.

also read:

tinyurl.com/4ahuedst

A few WhatsApp messages from the opposition said more than a thousand words. Cartoonist Oppenheimer encapsulated the sender in this image; the real Renske Leijten. tinyurl.com/yrt2ezj8

Listen how the Mayor of Haarlem, after receiving an apparent cue, personally phones up citizens with “mental problems” in order to have a little chat. Then, after a “sometimes difficult” consideration, he hands a verdict; the decision whether or not to have them institutionalized.

If he has doubts in particular cases and believes a person is completely sane and “another issue is at play”, he is staying on the safe side, and has him or her locked up anyway. Just to make sure that no bad individual slips through and the peace & quiet is preserved.

(KRO De Verwondering 23 okt 2022)

Council of State “complicit” in dubious collection methods of the Revenue Service.

The so-called FSV database came into being in 2013, and held 270.000 names by 2020. Based on tax fraud “signals”. Generated by algorithms, which turned out to have a built-in bias. Or simply conjured up at the desk of the overzealous RS employee. Added by a steady stream of anonymous info via tip lines.

Names of parents, for instance, who made use of the childcare benefits program. They were requested, out of the blue, to justify their application. A miscalculation of 10 euros earned them the title fraud. Plus an enforceable claim of the total amount received, sometimes over 10.000 euros, payable as of now.

Obviously, these practices lacked any legal basis, concurs professor of administrative law Bert Marseille. Victims went to court, but the Council of State judges categorically ruled in favour of the tax authorities.

Families of non-western descent in particular were affected, they fell into a dire financial situation. On top of that their children were taken away. Over a thousand. “There is not necessarily a causal connection”, a spokesperson from the Statistics Bureau says.

But that statement has long been overtaken by actual reports from society about these Out of Home Placements (UHP’s), by multi-disciplined units, in many cases led by the Salvation Army.

bit.ly/3INOx1f

"Because every second counts" is the slogan at the Emergency Room in Weert. Before midnight, however, the stopwatch stops ticking, because the ER-physicians clock out at exactly 23:00h. https://t.co/mBBFWq8evd

— Eduard van Diemen (@eduardvandiemen) November 4, 2021

Joyous atmosphere in the city park. Students chatting and laughing the evening away in their first week of class. A few nearby residents mostly experience it as a “nuisance”. Along comes the #Maastricht PD and they sweep the whole park clean, in one go.

tinyurl.com/52b8s9xy

 

Of all the professionals available to help form a corruption free Province Government after Bovens & Co. left, the representatives chose Mr. Onno Hoes. Which says more about these representatives than about Hoes.

I myself voted for Pascalle Plusquin of the Animal Party, current chairwoman of the Integrity Committee. When I used her public WhatsApp number 06-10919855 to alert her to some documents produced by the Maastricht PD and DA’s office, she blocked me. Other MPs just ignored me.

Pressured basically by an NRC publication, Parliament had no option but to tell the King’s Commissioner to leave, although strictly speaking it only was the far right PVV that proposed a motion of no-confidence. But Bovens didn’t feel inclined to wait for the verdict, so it never came to a vote. He just walked away.

Subsequently all parties consented to opening the door for the axed mayor of Maastricht turned real estate broker Hoes, pictured here in the yearly Servatius Procession next to Bovens. If one were to quantify the proceedings, on balance, it would comfortably amount to a net progress of -50%.

And no headway in sight. The key is lying in the Province of Limburg Parliament. Not that it is hidden or anything. Members just have to look from a different angle. Somebody eventually will pick it up and unlock the door to the 21st century.

Former MP Zihni Özdil says it out loud in NRC.

tinyurl.com/y6mpv9xb

You don’t have to be a forensic expert to see it: typical way of drawing lines, combined with a compulsive urge to jot down these erratic small dots. A signature style that’s omnipresent in 3 of the 4 situation sketches. 

They were the end result of a session in the Maastricht Court on 5 November 2007. Presided by judge W.E Elzinga.

Seems like Spring Sale in Parliament. On offer: no.25 and no.26

Isabelle Diks MP sent out a tweet a couple of weeks ago, announcing her resignation from Parliament, thanking everyone for the pleasant cooperation. Reason for the decision? It’s because she can, really. She’s been offered a job at the City of Groningen.

Diks is the 24th Representative that leaves in 2½  years. Since the formation of the Rutte III cabinet, October 2017.

75 Years Liberation

Valkenburg, 25 June 1945. A group of 100 jews, survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, arrive by train. 18 men are arrested by the Dutch Military Authority and immediately transported to labour camp ‘Up To No Good’. Separated from the rest of the family, the men  have to work in the gravel pit in nearby Vilt. In between captured SS men and NSB members.

(TROUW, April 1989)

Not the warrant of the judge, but the nose of the officer – or any civilian for that matter – is the determinant factor. Smell weed anyone? Let’s bust in the door.

And if we find not a shred of plant? We throw out the owner anyway. A few ”items” led authorities to believe there may have been grown some 400 plants here, possibly harvested three times, which could have led to a profit of 100.000 euros.

Reasonable doubt? I don’t think so. Reasonable assumption is a whole lot easier. Mayor signs the warrant.

Gala in honor of the marriage. The Hague, 5 January 1937. Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard are surrounded by ladies and gentlemen in festive attire that give the Hitler salute, while the Residentie Orchestra plays the Nazi hymn.

(Volkskrant, 26 Apr. 2019)

Some person decides to fire a few bullets through your window, but you are the one who is indicted. Here in Spijkenisse decent folk don't get shot at, so you must be some kind of criminal the Mayor concludes. Forced eviction for 4 weeks, from your own house.

bit.ly/2K2Z5iB

The neutrality question. "Kaiser Wilhelm II lived the life of a country gentleman at Doorn''. (newsletter.co.uk)

The 112 call turned into a script, the caller replaced by a voice actor, the dispatch center transformed into a film set. 

Enter The Dispatch, a new EO reality show.

The camera follows officer Hannelore de Laat as she’s going to work. She takes her seat behind the desk and starts answering 112 calls. Pretty quickly the penny drops and you realize you’re not watching reality TV, but something that feels more like a dialog from The Office. Awkward.

If anything, it emphasizes the blindspot at the entrance of the constitutional state. Emergency calls stay in the vault. Police rarely release any to the public. Like in my previous post, what we get is written excerpts, and that’s it. We the people can’t check a thing.

So wouldn’t it be a great assignment for a law faculty student to pull up all public court records from the last 10 years where the 112 audio was unavailable? Especially for a student like Daphne, who “always wondered why things are the way they are”, as her teacher Stefaan van den Bogaert said in de Observant. “She always wanted to know everything”.

Centerpiece in the Daphne Farquharson murder trial is the 112 call 4.59 a.m: “Uhh…I’ve just committed a murder”. Judge, D.A. and defense lawyer never heard the actual tape, as the latter told me three weeks ago.

bit.ly/2D6cW3t

#MaastrichtAwakes

SKB survey: 88 City employees go to work every day in fear of intimidation by their superiors. https://t.co/TV6p4akhhY

— Eduard van Diemen (@eduardvandiemen) August 5, 2018

Invented by Joost à Campo, Maastricht University. Transforensic Psychiatry. Treatment for "pre-crime behaviour". Under lock and key that is.

About The Council of State – de Raad van State.

Founded in 1531, making it one of the world’s oldest still functioning state organisations.

The constitution dictates that the Council of State ”be heard” on proposed legislation, before the cabinet presents a bill to parliament.

In the old days it consisted of “the great nobles of the realm and a few of the great prelates”. And still today, the king is chairman. Queen Maxima has a seat, alongside former diplomats, senators, MPs and preeminent representatives from the law community. The prelates are gone, but not very far away.

The cabinet mostly follows the Council’s “dictum”, thereby handing over the power to a group of insiders appointed for life by royal decree, including judges, and they send ministers back to the drawing board if necessary, to redo the bill.

The second ‘branch’ of the Council is the High Court of Administrative Law, parallel to the Supreme Court. Where council members rule in plain suits and dresses. This NRC editorial comment explains what that’s all about: same thing, pushing a political agenda.

Parliament embrace the institution like it’s their own, bills that originate here follow the same route. Even the ones initiated by progressive Groenlinks or SP. The Hague tradition, it’s how we keep things cozy (gezellig) in the lowlands. And it sheds yet another light on the question what it is exactly that constitutes an opposition.

(Source: NRC, RaadvanState.nl, Volkskrant, RTL nieuws, Wikipedia, Parlement.com)

COMMON SENSE PREVAILS. Or does it?
As of July 1st, a fully trained emergency physician with 2 years experience must be present at the ER, 24/7. Instead of only residents and students.

22 regional hospitals don’t meet the requirements. Measure postponed.

Rector Rianne Letschert isn’t lying awake over the fact that MU has slipped to #200 in the 2018 QS World University Rankings. She has a new hobby, local politics. Helping forge the new coalition. And a politician she is. This is her reaction to recent events.

https://youtu.be/lLhlvWh1kCw

UN Report: 1000 children in Dutch prisons without any form of trial.

This is the size 36 sneaker ”found in front of club Backstage”.
Amir’s foot size: 30.
bit.ly/2eXLer6

TAX COLLECTION, WIL MEIJER STYLE

March 29th, 2017

Tax inspector Wil Meijer arrives in Voerendaal this foggy spring morning, at the address where he's about to collect a back tax. He rings the bell and when the occupant opens the door, Meijer asks him to pay the outstanding amount, on the spot.

The man says he doesn't have such kind of cash on hand. That is the cue right there. Meijer unleashes the army search unit he brought along, a police unit, a customs unit with a dog and his own Revenue Service unit. To ransack the place for valuables equal to the amount of the debt.

read more.

In the reassuring presence of the King's Commissioner: the ''assault victim'', Ellen Lemmens. #TheMaastrichtFiles https://t.co/KZZPfExcOU pic.twitter.com/LeK78uqudG

— Eduard van Diemen (@eduardvandiemen) 6 april 2017

Punishing officers who deliberately falsify police reports? No is the consensus among judges.

The Supreme Court in 2013 ruled that procedural errors, accidental or deliberate, are a pain in the ass and virtually deleted the concept altogether.

Motion to suppress faulty police evidence is history. Some defense lawyers have tried, the request is standardly denied. The courts just bent their line of reasoning a bit, euphemizing falsification into a typo: "acquitting lawbreakers on technicalities doesn't go down very well with the general public anymore." (NRC, 6 Sept 2017)

(Dian Brouwer, Mr. aug. 2014)

NSCR REPORT: Employers prefer native white ex-felon over applicant of non-western descent with no criminal record.

It was a collaborative study of the NSCR, UU, VU and Radboud University. The question: what are the chances on the job market for ex-felons? The reseachers sent out 520 mock application letters to real job openings.

The letters were all identical, each ‘applicant’ had the same set of skills. In the resumés they systematically varied the type of crime – violent crime, property crime and sex crime – and no crime. Another variable was ethnicity.

(Un)expected conclusion: if your name is Johan or Kees and you were convicted of a violent crime, there’s a 28% chance you’ll be invited for a job interview. Is your name Youssef or N'gunda and you’re a law-abiding citizen of the Netherlands, the prospect of getting a positive reaction is 9%.

Talking about bias. The Judiciary of the Netherlands: 99.9% white.

Researcher Bauke Koekkoek singlehandedly dismantled the police policy of picking up ”confused persons”. Police registered 75.000 incidents in 2016 alone. ”In reality only thirty percent involve people with signs of mental problems”, says Koekkoek. ”The term is a catch-all for anyone and everyone who shows deviant or objectionable behaviour.”

Chief Aalbersberg laid down the terminology in a mission statement. ”Keeping the peace & quiet” became a goal in itself, at which point we entered that other zone, where the police raid homes ”because the blinds are down”. The couple living there was arguing too loud, according to a neighbour. The woman was thrown in a cell for the night. Her boyfriend for several nights more. Swalmen, Roermond area.

Other ”nuisance” makers were dropped off at one of those GGD affiliated institutions, and kept there. Mayor signs the warrant.

On the upside, individuals like Koekkoek can make the difference. Police started registering in 2011, but have largely abandoned the practice under pressure, and indeed, the unrelenting stream of news articles about confused people has dissipated visibly.

FIRST TWEET EVER.

just setting up my twttr

— jack (@jack) March 21, 2006

The Ladies of the Law Faculty connected way back in the early 90’s. Malva Driessen and Wendelien Elzinga pictured here as a member of the Emancipation Commission, MU.

Elzinga, top row, left.

Driessen, bottom row, second from left