The Public Prosecution Service does not accept the decision of the Middelburg court this week to suspend the pre-trial detention of two Ukrainian suspects of human smuggling because of the war in Ukraine. The court went for that so that the suspects can bring their children and (former) partners to safety in Ukraine and then „help [hun] to defend the country”.
On Thursday, the Public Prosecution Service announced that it had lodged an appeal against the suspension. This means that the Den Bosch Court of Appeal must consider the case. A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service does not want to explain why it does not accept the suspension of the pre-trial detention.
Precedent setting
The decision appears to be aimed in particular at avoiding precedent. The two Ukrainians are already at large: they left the Ter Apel Penitentiary on Wednesday, it is not known where they are now. It seems unlikely that they will report to the prison again if the court rules that the suspension of the pre-trial detention will be dropped.
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“If the court says that the two suspects must return home, lower judges will be less likely to suspend pre-trial detention in future cases involving Ukrainian suspects,” said Henk van Asselt, lawyer for one of the Ukrainians. “The Public Prosecution Service therefore seems to have an indirect interest here.”
A few weeks ago, Van Asselt also tried to get his client out of prison because of the war, but was refused. Thereupon, the Middelburg court ordered on March 17 another suspect of human smuggling. He was the first Ukrainian to be released because of “the war situation in Ukraine, the appeal of the government in Ukraine to its citizens to defend the country.”
The lawyer then tried again – this time with success – with other judges. Two of the three judges who returned his client to his home country were also involved in suspending the first Ukrainian from custody two weeks ago.
The Public Prosecution Service did not appeal against that suspension. According to a spokesperson, this was not possible because the suspension decision was taken at an interim session and not in the council chamber.
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