On the evening of July 19, 2022, several graves and memorials were randomly destroyed at the cemetery on Tollenstraat in Zandvoort. Other items, such as vases and flower pots that were on or next to the graves, were also broken. Involved family members, friends, and residents of the North Holland seaside resort are deeply shocked. Today, two men aged 36 and 40 from Haarlem and Zandvoort had to account for themselves before the police judge in Haarlem.
Suspects take no responsibility
The public prosecutor: “These are very painful facts. Especially considering the age of the suspects. This is not about rowdy youths who cannot oversee their actions, but about two adult men, one of whom is also not taking responsibility for what they have done.”
Camera footage and witness statement
During police interrogations, the suspects deny their involvement or blame each other. In a later interrogation with the examining magistrate, the 36-year-old suspect admits to having had a role. The prosecutor: “While there is sufficient evidence that they did this together. There is camera footage showing the suspects climbing over the fence of the cemetery. On the footage from that evening and night, no one else is seen. The suspects are also recognized on the video footage.”
Witness statement from girlfriend
Additionally, there is a witness statement from the girlfriend of the 40-year-old suspect. She says that one of the suspects that fateful evening told what had happened at the cemetery. They wanted to visit a deceased neighbor buried there but could not find him. Under the influence of a lot of alcohol, they walked over the graves and moved and broke pots, plants, and figurines. The 40-year-old suspect stated in court that he was present but had no part in it and that the 36-year-old co-defendant was responsible for all of this. He indicated that he heard things breaking. The 40-year-old suspect also stated that he initially lied in his statement because he wanted to protect the 36-year-old co-defendant.
“Never encountered such a case. Incomprehensible”
She continues: “As a public prosecutor, you see many cases come by, but I have never encountered a case like this before. I do not understand how you can do something like this. Incomprehensible. That you go to a cemetery, where relatives hope that a loved one will have their final resting place, and then willfully destroy those resting places, I find incomprehensible. The grave of a 9-year-old child. A gravestone that was refurbished a year earlier due to the death of a mother. A death already causes enough grief; now even more suffering has arisen.”
Sufficient conviction for both suspects
The position of the Public Prosecution Service is that the suspects are responsible for this and therefore also punishable. They deliberately (whether or not under the influence of a lot of alcohol) went to the cemetery and apparently decided at some point to cause damage there. The suspects did not provide a clear statement. The evidence in the file, combined with the statements made, is sufficient to reach a conviction for both suspects. The prosecution demands a community service of 100 hours and compensation of €473,- demanded by one of the victims for restoration work on the grave and travel costs. I find it only justified that this is granted including statutory interest and the compensation measure.
Judgment of the police judge
The police judge found that there was insufficient support and that the conviction is lacking that the 40-year-old suspect also destroyed the graves and memorials. The judge acquitted the 40-year-old suspect. For the 36-year-old suspect, the judge did see sufficient convincing evidence that he destroyed the graves and memorials. The judge sentenced him to 100 hours of community service and the payment of the demanded compensation.