3 May 2012
Dutch Court finds the Netherlands jointly responsible for infiltration in a drugs investigation in Turkey
On 16 April 2012, a Dutch Court in Rotterdam found that the Netherlands was jointly responsible with Turkey for the infiltration of Turkish nationals in an investigation in Turkey (LJN: BW3203). The case concerned a heroin transport from Turkey to the Netherlands in 2005. The Court found that the information that led to the launch of the investigation was provided as a result of infiltration in Turkey. The criminal investigations were conducted by both the Dutch and the Turkish police.
The Court held that from the start of the investigation, the investigation teams de facto worked as one transnational joint investigation team. It also found that the Dutch liaison officer in Turkey must have had knowledge of the infiltration. It was even intended that the Netherlands would provide financial remuneration for the infiltrator.
In these circumstances, the Court found that the Dutch authorities should be considered jointly responsible for the infiltration. On the basis of this conclusion, the Court then reviewed the acts of the infiltrator on the basis of Dutch law (including the ECHR that is part of Dutch law). It found that the acts in question violated Article 6 ECHR and that the only proper remedy was the inadmissibility of the public prosecution.
Source: LJN: BW3203, Rechtbank Rotterdam, 10/602018-05 (in Dutch)