Interview request for life sentence Dino Soerel wrongly rejected
September 20, 2023

The appeal committee of the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Youth Protection (RSJ) has upheld a complaint by Dino Soerel, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, about refusing an interview request with the media. Soerel wanted to participate in a documentary about the Passage process. That request had previously been rejected by the penitentiary institution (PI) Heerhugowaard.

Series
Dino Soerel (62) was sentenced to life in prison on appeal in June 2017 for, among other things, ordering the murders of Thomas van der Bijl (2006) and Kees Houtman (2005). In 2018, the Supreme Court rejected his cassation request.

Soerel was approached by documentary makers to participate in a series about the Passage Process. He would have one or two introductory conversations that would be recorded with a dictaphone. Afterwards, recordings might be made with a camera.

to disturb
The director of the facility rejected that request on March 7, 2022. Soerel (photo) went to the complaints committee, which declared his complaint unfounded in February of this year.



The director decided negatively about the interview in connection with the interests of the surviving relatives, who did not want to see the matter stirred up in the media. If Soerel were to appear on television, it would disrupt the peace and grieving process of the relatives in an unacceptable manner.

Peace
The RSJ appeals committee finds the weighing of interests 'insufficiently clear'.

The appeals committee understands the interest of the surviving relatives in rest. Approaching the surviving relatives would place too great a burden on them.

However, the appeals committee believes that the management has not sufficiently substantiated 'that this importance is so great that the complainant's request could be rejected on this ground alone.'

The appeals committee takes into account that when the management rejected the request, the conviction was 5.5 years ago, and the rejection came more than 3.5 years after the Supreme Court's judgment.

To inform
In the opinion of the appeals committee, the director should have inquired about the surviving relatives' views on a possible interview with Soerel. Moreover, the documentary will be made anyway, whether Soerel participates or not.

Therefore, the director has not sufficiently justified the rejection of Soerel's request for contact with the media. The management of the PI Heerhugowaard must make a new decision on the request.