More Dutch Judges Accused of Perjury in Chipshol Case

AMSTERDAM, February 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



Dutch Developer Chipshol demands the Public Prosecutor will prosecute four judges of the Haarlem court  for perjury. For years Chipshol has been fighting the Dutch government and state owned company Schiphol in court and claims serious irregularities have occurred in the judiciary. In the Haarlem court, suddenly judges were replaced after convicting Schiphol Airport to pay damages to Chipshol. During the hearing of witnesses about this matter they gave conflicting statements. Therefore Chipshol wants them to be prosecuted for perjury.

The Chipshol case recently led to the prosecution of two other judges of the The Hague court. One of them is Pieter Kalbfleisch, former chairman of the Dutch Competition Authority NMA.  With over 300 owned acres Chipshol is the largest private developer in the Schiphol region. Twenty years ago the company owned over 1200 acres and wanted to develop an airport city of international proportions. The Dutch government and Schiphol declined cooperation and tried to eliminate Chipshol with lawsuits and planning measures, costing the company over 900 acres.

Chipshol founder Jan Poot (87) and his son CEO Peter Poot (57) started approximately one hundred lawsuits. After twenty years a clerk revealed two vice presidents of the The Hague court had tight strings with Chipshol's opponents. That's why Chipshol lost its mayor case and saw it's economically owned acres reduced from 1200 to 300. Recently the Public Prosecutor decided both judges (Hans Westenberg and Pieter Kalbfleisch) are being prosecuted for perjury. Jan Poot already lodged his complaint about perjury in 2009. Only after enormous public and media pressure the Public Prosecutor decided to prosecute the judges, being the first time in Dutch legal history

The same pattern occurs in the case against the Haarlem judges. Three judges who repeatedly made critical remarks during the case against Schiphol and the Dutch Air Traffic Control were replaced by other judges, just before closing arguments, on authority of the president of the Haarlem court. During the witness hearings by Chipshol, judges and court employees contradicted each other constantly. Therefore Chipshol lodged a complaint for perjury. It was pushed aside immediately, without Chipshol being notified.

The Public Prosecutor didn't even await the results of the hearings. Therefore Chipshol asked the higher court in Amsterdam to make the Public Prosecutor prosecute the Haarlem judges.

CEO Peter Poot of Chipshol suspects the Dutch Public Prosecutor being intimidated not to prosecute. "After the notorious scandal at the The Hague court, the Dutch government wants to prevent a second scandal at the Haarlem court. The judiciary in the Netherlands is under heavy fire in the Chipshol case," Poot says.

Based on dozens of hearings, Chipshol is preparing an enormous claim against the Dutch government. Perjury and corruption among judges and misconduct among government officials and managers of Schiphol Airport play an important part in these accusations. According to Chipshol this expanding affair causes great damage to the international prestige of Schiphol Airport.

Peter Poot: "Unfortunately, the airport city, vital to Dutch economy, hasn't been realised yet. That's a shame considering the future of the airport and the country. In stead of fighting each other in court and litigate we should collaborate and create together. But the government wants to eliminate our private company at all cost."