An RTL documentary about the Nicky Verstappen case may be broadcast tonight. The court has decided this in summary proceedings.
The documentary provides a glimpse into the search of the police and starts at the point when a DNA research is set up. Jos B., who was convicted in the case last week, filed a lawsuit because he does not want the documentary on TV tonight.
Jos B. is portrayed as the culprit in the documentary, says his lawyer Gerald Roethof. He points out that his client has appealed. According to the lawyer, in a broadcast of talk show Beau about the documentary, ‘perpetrator’ is said three times when it comes to Jos B. and that affects his privacy, according to him.
RTL says that the document talks about the case in general terms. Jos B. is also only shown with a bar and is always referred to as ‘suspect’. There is also no new image of him in the documentary and no investigation files have been viewed.
If that is indeed the case, the documentary may be broadcast, the judge ruled. The ‘presumption of innocence’ must remain intact in the documentary. This means that a suspect remains a suspect as long as he has not been convicted. Because B. has lodged an appeal, he is still a suspect. “Tonight is part 1 of the documentary”, says reporter Jeroen de Jager. “Then it will become clear whether RTL has met those conditions, otherwise there could be new summary proceedings.”
Program maker Ewout Genemans made the two-part documentary for RTL. He followed the police investigation closely. He was not at the interrogation of B., but was allowed to ask the detective afterwards how it had gone. He told the AD: “It was also about how police officers experienced that personally.”