Pearce investigation - information about substantive hearing
On November 3, the District Court of Overijssel (location Zwolle) will begin the substantive hearing of a criminal case involving large-scale human smuggling from Libya to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. The defendant is charged with various offenses, including human smuggling, extortion, and money laundering. Nine court days are scheduled for the substantive hearing. The hearings will be streamed live on rechtspraak.nl. Due to limited space, the public's access to the courtroom is restricted.
What is the case about?
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the defendant is the leader of a large international human smuggling network. He is accused of human smuggling, extortion, the use of violence, and money laundering. The victims primarily are refugees from Eritrea who paid for passage to Europe but were subjected to human smuggling in Libya. According to the charges, many of the victims experienced severe physical abuse and other mistreatment during this ordeal.
Schedule
The provisional schedule of court hearings in the Pearce investigationLivestream
The court values transparency and is mindful of the public's interest in the case and therefore the sessions will be broadcast via a livestream. This ensures that everyone can follow the substantive hearing of the case.
Information for the public
The hearing will take place at the court in Zwolle. The session is public and accessible to interested parties, but seating in the courtroom is limited. Video rooms will be available on some days, but they too have limited capacity. This means that if the rooms are full, members of the public will not be allowed entry into the courthouse. The time of arrival at the courthouse does not guarantee a seat in the courtroom. Prior registration is not possible for members of the public.
The livestream can be followed on all court days via this link.
Information for the press
All journalists (including reporters and illustrators) are asked to register by emailing media.rb-ove@rechtspraak.nl no later than Thursday, October 30, 09:00 AM. Journalists are asked to specify which days they wish to attend in their registration email. There is no guarantee that seating will be available for all journalists in the courtroom. For any questions or further information, please contact the communication department of the District Court of Overijssel via the same email address.