113 innocents wrongly convicted in Europe, totaling over 800 years in jail: study

Researchers from Leiden and Maastricht University have mapped out how many people have been wrongfully imprisoned in Europe, as reported by WNL on Friday. According to their findings, a total of 113 individuals have spent over 800 years collectively in prison without cause.

The EUREX project, a new international initiative known as The European Registry of Exonerations, seeks to shed light on the frequency of miscarriages of justice throughout Europe. This project has collated initial data from analyses of proven miscarriages of justice since 1970 in sixteen European countries.

The data reveals that false confessions played a significant role in 33 percent of these cases, while erroneous eyewitness testimonies accounted for 29 percent of the errors. In the Netherlands, researchers found 12 cases of miscarriages of justice, leading to the eventual acquittal of 14 people.

Geert-Jan Knoops, a renowned criminal lawyer, has long been involved in defending those potentially wrongfully convicted. Knoops emphasized the importance of this project, noting that it offers deeper insight into wrongful convictions in Europe, a topic more transparently discussed in the United States.

Knoops also expressed concern that the current findings may only represent a fraction of the actual cases. He pointed out that the stringent conditions for reopening cases in the Netherlands pose a challenge. “I think the requirements for a review should be lowered,” he stated.

Furthermore, Knoops advocated for the establishment of a specialized team in the Netherlands to handle possible miscarriages of justice. He also proposed the formation of a European organization, funded by the European Union, to investigate common factors in these cases to prevent future occurrences.