Dutch broadcaster won’t press libel charges against Eurovision over Joost Klein incident

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS will not press libel charges against Eurovision over the alleged unjust disqualification of Joost Klein during the most recent Eurovision Song Contest. A spokesperson for the broadcaster said this when asked in response to an open letter from lawyer Gerard Spong in the Volkskrant.

Spong wrote that it is "without a doubt a defamatory accusation" that song festival organizer EBU, even though the Swedish Public Prosecution Service has said there is a lack of or insufficient evidence, maintains that Joost Klein "committed a disqualification-worthy act." According to him, AVROTROS could, therefore, file a complaint of defamation.

"We cannot turn back what has already been done. We are also not aiming to become richer or better off of this," said AVROTROS, who will be having talks with the EBU soon. Klein's disqualification will be the main subject of the discussions, and the broadcaster wants to discuss all the issues behind the scenes. "We do not only want things to be organized better for the Netherlands but for all countries. We need to reach an agreement on that."

The Swedish prosecutor announced last week that the criminal case against Klein has been dropped due to a lack of evidence. The artist was banned from participation in the finals of the Eurovision Songfestival after an incident with a camera woman.

It is still unclear what exactly happened. The EBU and AVROTROS disagree about whether agreements were made that Klein would not be filmed backstage before and after his performances.