Crime hotline caller's details made public

Monday 21 September 2009

The identity of a woman who rang a telephone crime hotline with a tip-off about a fatal stabbing has been made known to the defendant because her phone was being tapped at the time, news agency ANP reports on Monday.

The woman was considered a key witness in the case and her details ended up in official files.

'We have spoken to the women. This is the most awful thing that can happen. She is very emotional and scared,' Guus Wesselink, director of the hotline told ANP.

Wesselink said he was raising the issue with police and the public prosecution department. 'This is against all agreements,' he said.

Last year, over 76,000 people made calls to the hotline Meld Misdaad Anoniem resulting in 710 crimes being solved.

The Netherlands permits more phone taps per head of the population than any other country in the world. A number of court cases have stalled in recent years because recordings of phone calls between defendants and their lawyers were kept illegally.

© DutchNews.nl

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