The Public Prosecutor will carry out a criminal investigation into the hazing incident at the Vindicat student society in Groningen. The PP takes the matter extremely seriously and intends to find out if anyone involved should be prosecuted.
Last week a prospective member of Vindicat was injured so badly during the hazing ceremony that he had to be taken to hospital. One of the committee members stood on the first-year student’s head, causing cerebral oedema. Apparently there was a personal conflict between this committee member and the victim.
Serious enough
Despite the fact that the victim does not want to report the incident officially, the Public Prosecutor still intends to investigate the case. ‘From the information we’ve received so far, the matter is sufficiently serious to justify a criminal investigation,’ a PP spokesperson says.
The police have been asked to get to the bottom of the matter, and they will be interviewing those involved and the witnesses in the near future. If anyone actually emerges as a suspect, this person can then be prosecuted.
‘We don’t know all the facts yet,’ the PP spokesperson adds. ‘But right now it looks as if grievous bodily harm was inflicted on the victim. In such a case the accused doesn’t get off with a fine.’
Committee member resigns
The committee member responsible has meanwhile resigned and the other members have been suspended. Apparently they made no attempt to intervene during the incident and were drunk as well, which is against the rules because committee members are responsible for the new members’ safety.
An announcement was made today to the effect that Vindicat will be scrapping its ‘silence clause’. In the past this clause meant that prospective members could be fined € 25,000 for ‘tattling’ about hazing ceremonies, but this is now a thing of the past.
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