24 apr 2024 om 13:55 Update: 2 uur geleden
The Public Prosecution Service itself decides whether four employees of a care farm in Wedde, Groningen, will be punished for abusing residents with disabilities. Their case will not go to trial. The cases of five other employees are dismissed.
The public prosecutor will later determine what punishment the four suspects will receive. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), they were guilty of “serious misconduct” that they continued for a long time. The Public Prosecution Service blames them for not leaving the care farm earlier and never raising the alarm.
Justice calls the suspects for a hearing. The Public Prosecution Service may impose penalties itself if the crimes are not serious enough to be presented to the judge.
The Public Prosecution Service previously decided that two other suspects, the owners of the care farm, must appear in court. The court in Groningen will hear this case on June 10 and 12.
The two owners are said to have ordered the abuse. They have also taught the actions to their employees. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the role of the owners in the abuse is greater. That is why they must appear in court.
Justice suspects the two of assaulting ten residents. Vulnerable clients, some of whom had disabilities, were humiliated and abused. For example, the police report states that a client was pushed with his head into a toilet. Another client was put in the ditch by the staff.
Case against five employees dismissed
The Public Prosecution Service has dismissed the case against five other employees of the care farm. They abused residents, but according to the justice department their role was so small that prosecution is not necessary.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, these employees felt forced to carry out certain abuses. The owners of the care farm gave the order for this.
When dismissing their case, the Public Prosecution Service also took into account that these employees showed guilt and had left on their own. Two employees tried to put an end to the abuses.
One of them eventually went to the police and to journalist Alberto Stegeman. He exposed the abuses in his program Undercover Netherlands.
