€2,500 compensation for crime site listing

Thursday 07 January 2010

A man who was wrongly included on a police website with photographs of suspected armed robbers has been paid €2,500 in compensation in an out of court settlement, news agency ANP reported on Thursday.

The man was picked up by police after staff at a supermarket in Uithoorn suspected him of planning a robbery and his photograph and description were placed on the website.

The national ombudsman said earlier the man's privacy had been seriously infringed by the publication because there were too many doubts about his involvement.

Most wanted

Earlier this week, the police launched another website featuring the country's top eight most wanted criminals. One of them, it emerged on Wednesday, is currently in jail in Belgium.

Lawyers are concerned about the effect of the growing use of wanted websites. Top lawyer Gerard Spong pointed out in Trouw on Thursday that the 'most wanted' website includes five people who are suspected of committing crimes.

'In the Netherlands, a suspect is considered innocent until found guilty,' Spong said. 'That is an important legal principle.'

© DutchNews.nl

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