JA21 wants more consideration for victims of violent crime

People that have committed crimes involving serious physical and/or sexual violence should not be allowed to move back into their old residency area, according to JA21 in their election program, the ANP reports.

According to the relatively new party of Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga, not enough attention is focused on the victims of violent crimes.

Currently, convicts are released back to their former place of residency to help them readjust to society with the help of their friends and family. Oftentimes, however, the people they hurt also live in the same area. Eerdmans said this forces the victim and their families to continuously have to face their perpetrators.

JA21 wants inmates to come up with their own 'rehabilitation plan’ while still incarcerated. Should they fail to do so, they should not be released, the party stated. “This shows remorse and makes them confront the pain they caused”, Eerdmans said. “A step-by-step plan during their prison time needs to be a firm requirement before their release.”

Victims should also have more influence over the duration of their perpetrator’s sentence, along with the right to speak to the judge after the sentencing. JA21 wants to increase the people's trust in the judicial system and make it more comprehensible to the general public.

The party wants to establish its position as a viable alternative to other parties on the right, such as the PVV and the FVD. Eerdmans and Nanninga were both members of the FVD before they split with the party at the end of last year, due to an argument with the party’s leader Thierry Baudet.

JA21 also stands for fewer environmental restrictions and less immigration.