Two former court judges are to be prosecuted for perjury and conflict of interests in connection with the sale of land around Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, the NRC reports on Friday.

The paper says the head of the public prosecution service has personally briefed justice minister Ivo Opselten about the ‘highly unusual’ decision to take legal action against former court officials: Pieter Kalbfleisch, who later became head of the competition authority NMa, and Hans Westenberg.
The legal action follows a formal complaint by property developer Jan Poot, owner of the Chipsol development company, who has been embroiled in a long-running dispute over the land.
Poot went to court in 2005 accusing local authorities, national government, air traffic control body LVNL and Schiphol airport of working together to prevent Chipsol developing a business park close to the airport in the 1990s.
The NRC says Westenberg and Kalbfleisch are suspected of working together to help a former business partner of Poot buy land and of lying about their friendship under oath.