Marianne Vaatstra’s murder released with a regional ban, how does that work?

Marianne Vaatstra was raped and murdered in the Frisian Veenklooster in 1999 at the age of 16. It was only years later that Jasper S. was arrested after a massive DNA investigation. For this purpose he voluntarily gave hereditary material, he knew that family members would also do this. He was arrested in 2012 and convicted in 2013.

“As a family, we will never be free from our loss. That is why it feels so much too soon and unfair. Because of his action, we have lost Marianne forever. In these years, no the loss has not subsided, we still miss every day,” Vaatstra’s family replied that they had previously asked for their release.

‘Extremely large area’

Criminal law expert Geert-Jan Knoops says it is ‘very special’ that a regional ban is being issued for Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland. “That’s pretty special. A pretty big part of Holland. As far as I know, that doesn’t happen often.”

“That could be encouraged by the Public Prosecution Service because many of the victim’s family may live in those areas. That could be an argument. At the same time time, I can also imagine that the person who committed the crime might want to confront such a large area.”

That geographic size also raises immediate questions about how you can control this. “I think it’s very realistic that electronic monitoring will be used for this,” the lawyer continues. “Look, you can hardly chase someone 24/7 with a car police. An ankle bracelet could solve this problem.”

The fact that L. has already been released is due to an old law, Knoops explains. “It used to be that you could be eligible for release earlier, for example after serving two thirds of your sentence. Due to a new law, it is still possible to be released earlier, but that time is greatly shortened. You can now be released up to two years earlier.”

Exclude broken region

The criminal lawyer does not have exact figures on regional bans, ‘but I can say that this is not the rule’. “It often happens in cases that cause a lot of social upheaval. Or with sex offenders. But it is not true that this happens as a standard for every criminal. It is also only possible if early release, so not if someone has already served his sentence in full.”

And what if such a ban is broken? “That varies on a case-by-case basis,” said Knoops. “But in this case, given the societal reactions to the fact that it’s being released early, I can’t imagine it still being a warning. Early notification can also be revoked if the conditions are breached.”

Crime journalist John van den Heuvel said earlier in the RTL Boulevard broadcast that the case still causes confusion among those involved, ‘even though it was a long time ago’.

“So the regional ban could depend on the approval of mayors in the northern areas,” says Van den Heuvel. “They saw other problems.”