Security service continues to tap lawyers’ phones

The number of telephone taps placed by the Dutch security service rose 19% between 2014 and 2015, according to regulator CTIVD.

The reason for the rise is ‘an intensifying of investigations into jihadis travelling to and from Syria and Iraq’, the organisation said in a statement.

Home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk has refused to publicise the total number of taps placed by the secret service on national security grounds, despite opposition from the CTIVD.

However, the regulator’s report shows that in 13 cases, lawyers’ phones were tapped and conversations were transcribed, even though there was no public security threat.

In July, a court in The Hague ruled the AIVD may not tap lawyers’ telephones or emails unless it has shown there is a direct danger to national security and been given permission by an independent body.

Another investigation focused on an un-named person’s sex life. This too was illegal, the CTIVD said.