In August 2014, the Court of First Instance declared the Prosecutor’s Office’s cases against the four suspects inadmissible, because Prosecutors had failed to also investigate the roles of UP and its party leadership in the scheme.
The Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the verdict and the Joint Court of Justice quashed the ruling of the Court of First Instance on May 5, 2015, and referred the Masbangu investigation back to the lesser court for retrial.
Subsequently, the suspects filed a final appeal against the Appeals Court’s decision at the High Court in The Hague. However, as the suspects had failed to submit the grounds for their appeal to the High Court, despite several reminders, the highest Court in the Netherlands declared all suspects’ appeals inadmissible on March 15. This meant the cases against all four suspects had to be heard anew by the Court of First Instance.
A preliminary hearing in another vote-buying case, allegedly committed during the 2014 Parliamentary election, is scheduled to take place in the Court of First Instance on Wednesday, September 21. The so-called “Octopus” investigation allegedly involves Member of Parliament Silvio Matser and four other suspects.
All suspects go free in vote-buying case
