National security leak investigation takes shape

The investigation into the leak from the commission for the intelligence and security services is starting to take shape. The first two members of the parliamentary committee that will be investigating this leak were announced on Monday - PvdA parliamentarian Jeroen Recrout and VVD parliamentarian Mark Harbers.

The management of the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, decided last week that all major parliamentary parties should be involved in the investigations and should announce their representatives by Tuesday. The Presidium advised parties to nominate MP's with a legal background. Recourt was a judge for six years, according to broadcaster NOS. But Harbers, who is the financial spokesperson for the VVD, has no legal background. The Parliamentarians in the committee will investigate who leaked confidential information from the commission for the intelligence and security services and whether the guilty parties should be prosecuted. The highly confidential commission consists of the leaders of most of the major political parties, which means that the committee will be investigating their colleagues. Article 119 of the Constitution states that the Public Prosecutor cannot make a decision on prosecuting a Member of Parliament, that decision is reserved for the government or the Tweede Kamer itself. Tom Heijm, a former police detective in Amsterdam, is questioning whether this investigation should be in the hands of parliamentarians. "This is actually a criminal offence. A professional misconduct. It is conveniently forgotten that the violation of state secrecy is a criminal offense, so this should be a criminal investigation", he said to BNR.