Dilan Yesilgöz wants to continue as Minister of Justice and Security. She sees last week’s hard report from the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) as an incentive to continue with what she is already doing: reforming the surveillance and security system.
“I hope that the Chamber gives me confidence and sees what I am doing from the beginning,” Yesilgöz said this morning. It was the first time she responded orally to the investigation into the murders of the brother of key witness Nabil B., lawyer Derk Wiersum and confidential advisor Peter R. de Vries.
The OVV states that major mistakes were made by the services involved in monitoring the victims. These fall under the responsibility of the Minister of Justice and Security. But when asked whether she should not resign, Yesilgöz answers in the negative.
Painful image
She says she embraces the OVV’s “strong recommendations”. “They actually say: you have to review the whole system and that’s what I’m taking up.” According to her, there is still “an incredible amount of urgent work”, which she would like to continue.
Yesilgöz thinks the report paints “a very painful picture”, in which it is clear that major mistakes have been made. “But I think that reparation towards the next of kin lies mainly in the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.”
The minister has eight weeks to come up with a substantive response to the report, but she does not think she will need that long. However, she will not be able to produce a letter before next Wednesday’s elections.
- MPs: no new deals with crown witnesses for the time being
- Mistakes made in the run-up to the murders of Derk Wiersum and Peter R. de Vries, says OVV
