City councilor arrested for Den Bosch mayor candidates leak

The police arrested a member of the Den Bosch city council's trust committee on Tuesday. The 55-year-old man is suspected of involvement in the leak of information about the nomination of a new mayor in the city, AD reports.

This leak caused quite a commotion when the Brabants Dagblad published detailed information about the candidates for mayor as well as the procedure of appointing a new mayor in Den Bosch. This procedure usually takes place under strict confidentiality. The newspaper revealed that Jan Hamming decided to become mayor of Zaanstad instead of Den Bosch at the last moment, and Jack Mikkers was then appointed as the mayor of Den Bosch.

The Commissioner of the King in Noord-Brabant, Wim van den Donk, filed charges after the leak, and the judiciary launched an investigation in July. Over the past weeks the Rijksrecherche - the department that handles internal investigations in government organizations - questioned several witnesses about the leak. The investigation is now focused on questioning the suspect, the Public Prosecutor said to AD.

The suspect is in restricted custody, which means he isn't allowed to have contact with anyone except his lawyer.