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Holland

01 January 1991

Holland
Speculative police raids
artdoc June=1994

Holland's leading quality newspaper NRC Handelsblad has exposed
a widespread police practice of regularly breaking into the
houses, offices and other premises of suspects in order to check
out whether an official house search on a warrant would produce
any evidence. On several occasions bugging devices were
installed. The newspaper states that public prosecutors and
police detectives have confirmed that such clandestine burglaries
take place throughout the country. These operations are
systematically kept out of all internal and external reporting,
but the public prosecutors and all five Procurators-General (who
supervise the public prosecutor's offices) are aware of and
support these activities. Police officers in black training suits
carry out these `looking operations' as they are called. These
police operations are clearly in violation of the penal code and
have never been admitted before, although political activists
have encountered the `men in black' in the past and there has
been ample indications of burglaries by intelligence services.
This week the five Procurators-General, who have semi-
independent policy-making powers, have agreed on broadening the
scope of police infiltrations and other undercover activities.
A central commission is to be installed to oversee and approve
such operations in order to come to a national harmonization.
Under certain conditions police undercover agents will be allowed
to sell drugs, including hard drugs to a maximum quantity of
several kilos, in order to gain the confidence of criminals. The
establishment and use of so-called `front stores', phoney
corporations such as transport companies and financial service
firms, to do business with criminal organizations will be allowed
as well.
NRC Handelsblad, 25.3.94.

Statewatch Vol 4 no 2, March-April 1994

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