May 12, 2024
Dutch Court Prosecution is Blamed for the Death of Loek de L.
This obituary was originally published in the newsletter of Cooperation Last Will organisation in the Netherlands. The author is Hans Peltenburg.
Seven members of this group are currently being prosecuted for supplying sodium azide amongst themselves to their members.
One of those being prosecuted was Loek de L. So now there are six…
Loek died in hospital on 27 April.
The prosecution held his body for an autopsy … just in case.
Loek’s colleague and friend Hans Peltenburg writes:
It is so sad that this witch hunt has come to this.
What do you think of how a person of 80 has been the target of police investigations and prosecutorial actions?
Imagine this, 2.5 years ago the police storm into your house.
You get two days in jail during which time you are interrogated.
You then are made to wait another two years to hear whether or not you will be charged.
And then a further six months to hear what the charges will be.
Finally, you will be made to appear in court a three week period.
There will be eight grueling days of court hearings during which the public prosecutor will paint you as a criminal who intended to break Dutch law.
How does that do to your eighty-year-old body cope with such an ordeal?
De Volkskrant has reported that Loek’s daughter says that the eight-day court hearing had a major impact on her father’s health. Now her father is dead.
23 April: Physically demolished, mentally strong
Loek, like the other defendants, was invited to read out a final statement in court on Tuesday 23 April.
He did this in a breaking voice, with occasional sobs.
At that, some of the other defendants also started crying along with people from the audience.
The judges and court clerks had to hold back from letting their emotions and tears flow too.
Loek even thanked the judge for his compassionate approach.
During the reading of his statement, the two prosecutors looked out through the high windows of the courtroom with white pale faces.
Read Loek’s statement later in the newsletter.
25 April: Loek becomes unwell at home and is admitted to hospital
By 25 April, Loek’s body is no longer coping. He is hospitalised with heart problems.
27 April: Loek dies and the authorities confiscate his body for autopsy
How is it that the authorities are allowed to do this in modern day the Netherlands?
In Russia I can imagine such a thing, but not in our democracy.
The Netherlands Forensic Institute was told by the public prosecutor to investigate whether Loek had ingested sodium azide.
How can this be so? It isn’t a criminal offence to end your life.
Or did the public prosecutor on duty have the sick idea that perhaps one of Loek’s next of kin might have assisted in his possible suicide?
Or, one of the other 7 defendants suspected of forming the infamous ‘criminal organisation’?
The post-mortem revealed nothing out of the ordinary. The body was given over to the children.
The whole idea behind CLW is that you are able to say farewell in your own way, at your own chosen time and in the presence of your loved one(s).
I would have liked Loek to be able to say goodbye to life together with his (grand)children in his own autonomous way. But this was not to be.
Loek’s heart couldn’t take it anymore.
He was taken from this world very suddenly and unexpectedly and certainly not of his own free will.
Loek was declared guilty for his humanity, yet he was made to feel ashamed and humbled by the Dutch State’s inhumanity
In my view, the police and the public prosecutor are greatly to blame for Loek’s death because of the manner of investigation and prosecution.
Of course, this can never be proved one-to-one, but any cardiologist will state that three year’s of unmitigated stress can indeed destroy your heart.
Angry and sad
I feel angry and sad. Yet I hope that Loek’s grandchildren will live to see that in our democratic Netherlands we will deal differently with people’s autonomous wishes regarding end of life choices.
Please write condolences to Loek’s (grand)children:
Leonard Springerlaan 33, 2033 TB Haarlem