Claim for damages Poch not granted – NRC

Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus (Justice and Security, CDA) will not recognize the complaint of the former Argentine-Dutch pilot Julio Poch. He writes this in a letter to the House of Representatives on Monday. Poch, now 66 years old, was found in Argentina for having participated in the execution of robberies at the time of the military junta (1976-1983).

After nearly three thousand days of detention, Poch was acquitted unanimously by a court in Buenos Aires a year ago. . Poch filed a claim for compensation because his arrest and extradition to Argentina in 2009 had been arranged by the Dutch prosecutor, Ward Ferdinandusse. The Netherlands did not sign any extradition treaties with Argentina, but communicated Poch flight data to Buenos Aires, which operated under the name Transaviaapilot. When he landed on his last flight before retiring to Valencia, he was arrested and extradited.

About the lawsuit against Julio Poch: Poch particularly wishes to return home quickly

Poch's lawyer, Geert-Jan Knoops, said that state cooperation in matters arrest and extradition of Poch was illegal. The investigation by the public prosecutor's office was also reportedly negligent and the state allegedly misinformed the judge during the interim proceedings, according to Knoops.

Minister Grapperhaus disputes these three points. According to him, a judge had previously established that the judge hearing summary proceedings was not misinformed and that the extradition was not illegal. During the investigation, several Dutch witnesses informed the state, a legal aid relationship with Argentina was established and further research was conducted. The fact that Poch was acquitted in 2017 does not make the preliminary inquiry uncertain, according to Grapperhaus. He also added that a call had been announced by the Argentine prosecutor, so that Poch's innocence was not yet established.

According to his lawyer, Poch is "totally stunned" by the minister's response, which took ten months to wait. . The driver does not understand that Grapperhaus now announces that the Attorney General has borne the costs of the assistant lawyer the Dutch pilots. They made statements to the Dutch and Argentine OM that led to the arrest of Poch. The lawyer Knoops has always rejected his claims for legal aid to accused Poch

. Knoops does not understand that the minister wrote that the Dutch prosecution service investigated Poch after 2006 and that it would be "the initial suspicion". have strengthened. "That does not happen to be true," says Knoops. Poch is considering new lawsuits against the Dutch state.