Hague aldermen cleared on corruption, bribery charges

The court acquitted former The Hague aldermen Richard de Mos and Rachid Guernaoui in the corruption case against them. The court didn’t consider it proven that entrepreneurs bribed the aldermen with donations and gifts for preferential treatment.

Five of the six other suspects - entrepreneurs and a former civil servant - were also acquitted. Only entrepreneur Atilla Akyol received a four-month suspended prison sentence for weapon possession. The police found a weapon during the raid on his home.

The court considered it proven that the entrepreneurs made over 100,000 euros in donations to De Mos’s party and that the man himself received nearly 270 euros in personal gifts, mainly consisting of meals and two boat trips. But according to the court, there was no malicious intent on the entrepreneurs’ part with those donations.

“Such malicious intent is a necessary condition for proof of bribery,” the court said. “No malicious intent on the part of the donors can be deduced from the batch of donations. In fact, a party donation is, in principle, done with a good intention,” the court noted in a statement.

“De Mos and his co-defendants are therefore acquitted of official bribery. As a result, they are also acquitted of participation in a criminal organization.” Additionally, the court ruled that since the corruption charges were unproven, it must also rule that the charges of perjury against De Mos and Guernaoui must also be unproven. “Furthermore, the court cannot establish that De Mos and his colleague have violated their professional secrecy, so that they are acquitted of this, just like the entrepreneurs who were also accused of this.”

The corruption trial started in January, over three years after the authorities raided The Hague city hall and several homes. In February, the Public Prosecution Service demanded a suspended prison sentence of 22 months against De Mos and 16 months in prison against Guernaoui, six months of which conditionally suspended. The OM also asked the court to ban the two former aldermen from working as civil servants for four years. Both currently hold seats on the city council of The Hague. De Mos is also a member of the Delftland Water Board.

The OM charged the two former aldermen and several local entrepreneurs 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.

De Mos, Geurnaoui, and the other suspects argued that the donations weren’t corrupt. The former aldermen said they were just performing their public duty. Their lawyers called for an acquittal.

De Mos broke down in tears after he was acquitted, as people cheered in the courtroom gallery. Geurnaoui was relieved. “Hopefully, the nightmare is over,” he said immediately after the ruling.