The police have reportedly received dozens of responses after reaching out by mail to around 60 individuals for new leads about threats to companies and individuals involved in building new wind turbine parks in the north.
Translation by Thomas Ansell
Ramona Venema, a police spokesperson, told RTV Noord that the replies present a potentially valuable new source of information for investigators. “The majority of people who were sent a letter responded, but it remains difficult to say how useful the information is. Sometimes a detail is very small, but very important.”
People sent the letter were not required to reply: the letter was intended as a call for witnesses to come forward, and not reacting to the letter did not lead to any further consequences. The police have formed a special team – rechercheteam windmolenproblematiek– that to investigation the protests against the windmills. The police would not comment further on the ongoing investigation nor the contents of the letters.
Protests have often toed the line of illegality, with actions attributed to the protestors including spreading asbestos in Delfzijl and threatening letters being sent to politicians and businesses involved in the wind farm projects, amongst others. This led to the wind park protestors being placed on the Dutch terror list earlier this summer.
Suspects
Wednesday evening saw one suspect connected to the recent threats, Jan Nieboer, released from prison. The figurehead of Platform Storm was held for six weeks on suspicion of involvement in the threatening letters and dumping of asbestos. Although Nieboer has been freed, he remains a suspect in the case.
Another suspect, ‘Jan H.’, remains in custody after his detention was extended for 60 days on Wednesday. H. has already been detained for six weeks, and there is a two-month limit on detention without charge, at which point any further detention will have to be decided by a court. A third suspect, 50-year-old Johnny R., an associate of both Jan H. and Jan Nieboer, was also released. He had been held for three days.
