Justice For Lucia?

I trust that next Wednesday, the Dutch Court will announce that there has been a terrible miscarriage of justice, and pronounce Lucia de Berk innocent of all charges. The background to the case, and the appalling errors, are laid out here by Ben Goldacre.

 

Unfortunately, I doubt whether the court’s pronouncement will ever undo the irreparable damage that has been done to de Berk. She deserves compensation, even if it will never eradicate the harm that has been done to her.

 

To get some sense for the Kafkaesque situation that de Berk has found herself in, read some of the comments from Richard D. Gill on Ben’s piece. Shocking doesn’t come even close for this miscarriage of justice.

 

Update: As expected, Lucia de Berk’s sentence was quashed. She is innocent of the charges. However, the NRC rightly points the finger at the Dutch legal system and asks if it is too complacent.