Groves family ask for help from ‘dismissive’ Dutch government

It follows yet another day when no evidence was heard in the case after the accused, Richard de Wit, was not brought to court because of security concerns surrounding national elections in India.

Miss Groves was killed on a houseboat in Kashmir in April 2013.

‘Unfortunately, towards the end of 2018, for unavoidable and fully understandable reasons, we lost direct contact with Bart Stapert, a very senior human rights lawyer and the one person in the Netherlands who seemed capable of influencing the future course and direction of this trial,’ said Vic Groves.

‘It beggars belief that, with the accused being a Dutch national, few efforts appear to have been made by the Dutch establishment at any level to seek a speedy and safe outcome to the trial.

‘They are highly conspicuous by their absence and they appear outwardly dismissive of ‘‘one of their own’’.

‘Even less understandable is the refusal by the Dutch diplomatic establishment to share any information with their British counterparts or to agree to any level of joint initiative to work together with the common objective of seeking a speedy and safe outcome to the trial.

‘Recent efforts in this regard have foundered, with the Dutch citing concerns over data protection rights under the recently introduced European GDPR legislation.’

Mr Groves said the family has also now lost contact with their long-standing contact at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who has been moved abroad.

‘He had been our mainstay at the FCO since 2013.

‘We continue to receive their support on a reactive basis but we feel that the time has arrived for a renewed set of pro-active initiatives by the British Government.

‘The passage of time has progressively eroded all contacts built since 2013 and all such initiatives taken in the past have been confined to the annals of history and need to be renewed.

‘The passage of time has also caused problems in locating the current whereabouts of some witnesses.

‘Most significant is the taxi driver first summoned to appear on 28 March 2014. He has never taken the stand and, despite repeated requests to establish what efforts are being made to locate him, no information has been received and there are now serious concerns that he will ever give his evidence.

‘This would seriously undermine the trial,’ said Mr Groves.

Questions also needed to be asked of the Kashmiri legal authorities, he said.

‘Would this trial have been so disgracefully managed if the accused and/or the victim had been of Kashmiri origin?

‘We somehow suspect not.

‘Yet another reason so many people in India and in Kashmir associated with this trial, both now and at all times throughout its six-year history, should hang their heads in shame.’

The next scheduled hearing date is Tuesday 7 May.