Fmr. Hague aldermen arrive at first day of corruption trial in green limousine

Over three years after the authorities raided The Hague city hall and several homes, the corruption case against former aldermen Richard de Mos, Rachid Guernaoui, and six other suspects started on Monday. The two former aldermen arrived at court in a green limousine, branded for their party Hart voor Den Haag, Omroep West reports. However, the show of flash and optimism grew more tense and angry as the first day of the trial progressed.

Upon arrival at the courthouse, De Mos said he was happy that the trial was starting. “Hopefully, we can finally get on the road to restoring our honor. I hope we can finally put it behind us,” he said, repeating that he looks forward to being acquitted.

The two former aldermen and several local entrepreneurs are charged with forming a criminal organization, official corruption, and violation of professional secrecy. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), three real estate- and two catering entrepreneurs in The Hague paid De Mos’s party 113,000 euros in donations in exchange for preferential treatment.

The OM argues that the donations were corrupt because the entrepreneurs received services in return. De Mos and Guernaoui allegedly gave the entrepreneurs information about future real estate projects, influenced municipal policy on their behalf, and gave them two night exemptions for catering businesses.

At the start of the hearing, the OM showed a video of a city council meeting from 2017, in which De Mos submitted a motion to grant a night permit to the Opera venue to “give a boost to the dance scene in The Hague.” The court pointed out that De Mos stood up for very specific cases, some with conflicting interests. But the former alderman argued that “that’s custom work.”

The court also discussed suspicious gifts and donations made to De Mos’s party, including a campaign bus gifted to the party by entrepreneur Attila Akyol, who owns the venue Opera. De Mos said his party “desperately needed” donations. He stuck to his defense that it is normal for donations to be made to a political party. According to him, there was no question of influence or favoritism because the party would have accepted donations from anyone.

De Mos advocated heavily on behalf of Opera and its owner, Akyol, who was annoyed that despite employing eighty people with 500,000 annual visitors, his business was treated like a common cafe. Akyol’ s brother, Erdinç, bragged about how De Mos helped win a parking rate reduction at Opera, saying, “Now our business is worth a ton more.”

When pressed on the issue, De Mos said discussing money is simply interesting to him. “I wanted to rock ‘n’ roll for The Hague.” However, De Mos’s response irritated the judge, who suggested those back-and-forth moments is where corruption starts.

“It is not the case that you are not allowed to help people. But it becomes difficult when something comes in return,” the leading judge presiding over the case said.

De Mos’s heavy lobbying for the hospitality industry also came into focus. This regarded De Mos’s plan to allow hospitality businesses to stay open later in the overnight hours, which was eventually stripped down to only afford more flexibility to laceration types of venues, like Opera. By approving the plan, De Mos said Mayor Pauline Krikke’s decision inadvertently made him look like a corrupt politician who was only winning favor for people who supported him and his party with cash and other donations.

"Perhaps you put a lot of pressure on the mayor," the lead judge said.

Asked earlier in the day about whether he still enjoys his work as a politician, De Mos said that he sometimes thinks about doing something else. “I’m a fan of Ik Vertrek, I was watching again on Saturday, and then you sometimes consider it.” Ik Vertrek is a reality show that’s been on Dutch television for over 15 years. It features guests who have decided to quit their jobs in the Netherlands and start a new adventure in another country.