Translated: “Horrible. These used to be my direct bodyguards, who would enter my safehouse. This is very, very scary.”
Earlier Gatestone.eu reported on the leaking of sensitive information with regard to the protection of Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders. Today, more news was unveiled about the Moroccan-Dutch officer involved in the leak. The suspended officer, referred to as Faris K. for privacy reasons, was indicted in 2005 for leaking information and appeared before a police judge. He was convicted of violating the official secrets and his punishment was community service, which was suspended.
Not only was K. not fired, he was allowed to continue his career as a police officer. Employees of the Service Safety and Security (DBB) are subjected to vetting, and it is unclear how he could have been allowed to serve in view of his criminal record. Especially in view of the fact that Faris K.’s brother, Mohammed K. was also fired from the police, in 2007, for violating the official secrets act. He was paid for leaking information regarding the murder of one Abdel Edoujaji.
Besides this affair, Wilders was told today, that two DBB officers, one of whom was directly charged with guarding him, were removed from his protection team in 2015 for involvement in criminal activities. The Minister of Justice, Stef Blok, declined to state exactly what the two officers, the brothers, Omar El M. and Anouar El M., were suspected of doing.
In response to this news, Wilders has decided it is impossible to continue his campaign.
According to Prime Minister Mark Rutte, there is no reason to stop the campaigning for the parliamentary elections on 15 March. He is quoted in Dutch newspaper Telegraaf as stressing that all this has nothing to do with terrorism, but simply with less serious criminal activities and that:
“One of course always tries to do everything possible to avoid taking disciplinary actions. But if they should be taken, we do take them, in the interest of the safety of the politicians.”
A more meticulous vetting, with care being taken to not select offenders to bear responsibility for the safety of politicians and the Royal Household, seems to have been an option not entertained by the PM.