Vereniging MARTIJN
Encyclopedia
Vereniging MARTIJN is a Dutch
association that advocates the acceptance of pedophilia
and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children. The group is widely reviled but not outlawed. MARTIJN was expelled from the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1994.
of the New Right
, Florens van der Kooi of the NNP
, as well as Inge Bleecke of Moeders tegen Pedofilie (Mothers against Pedophilia), the committee was criticised as extreme right by their opponents.
, daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
and his wife Princess Maxima, were on display on the website's forum. The Prince went to court to request a €50,000 fine and the removal of the photos from the website. The court agreed that the photos must be removed, and imposed a fine of €5,000 to be paid every time photos of children of the royal family are placed on the site again. The organisation had to pay €1,235 in costs.
were found among the confiscated material, and even more material, including computers, was confiscated when Van den Berg was arrested on March 29.
Suspects in the Amsterdam
sex case, an investigation into the abuse of tens of children in Amsterdam kindergartens, were members of MARTIJN.
Catholic order, confirmed to RTL Nieuws
that a priest under him had been on the board of MARTIJN until the Van der Berg raids. He added "Of course we reject this and distance ourselves from this personal initiative". RTL obtained interviews both with Spronck and the priest (73-year-old "Father Van B.") in which the two defended adult-child sex as not always damaging. The priest concerned has prior convictions for child sex abuse.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
association that advocates the acceptance of pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children. The group is widely reviled but not outlawed. MARTIJN was expelled from the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1994.
OK Magazine
From 1986 to 2006 the group published OK Magazine, available only through the mail and not in retail stores, featuring essays, letters, interviews and photographs of scarcely clothed or naked children, mostly boys.Stop MARTIJN
In 2003 Vereniging MARTIJN faced opposition by the Actiecomité Stop MARTIJN (Action Committee Stop MARTIJN), which organized demonstrations against them. Formed and led by Michiel SmitMichiel Smit
Michiel Smit is a former Dutch politician and leader of Nieuw Rechts, a nationalist political party.-Political office:...
of the New Right
New Right (Netherlands)
New Right was a nationalist Dutch political party, founded by Michiel Smit in February 2003 and dissolved in December 2007.-History:...
, Florens van der Kooi of the NNP
New National Party (Netherlands)
The New National Party was a Dutch nationalist political party which existed between 1998 and 2005. It succeeded the "Volksnationalisten Nederland" party which had been founded in 1997...
, as well as Inge Bleecke of Moeders tegen Pedofilie (Mothers against Pedophilia), the committee was criticised as extreme right by their opponents.
Photographs of Princess Amalia
The organization was in the news in October 2007 when it was learned that photographs of Princess AmaliaPrincess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands
The official origins of her given names:*Catharina has been speculated to be after Henriette Catherine of Nassau *Amalia is after Amalia of Solms-Braunfels *Beatrix is after her paternal grandmother, the Queen of the Netherlands...
, daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange is the eldest child of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus. Since 1980 he is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He is also the head of the House of Amsberg since the death of his father in 2002. He was in military service and he studied...
and his wife Princess Maxima, were on display on the website's forum. The Prince went to court to request a €50,000 fine and the removal of the photos from the website. The court agreed that the photos must be removed, and imposed a fine of €5,000 to be paid every time photos of children of the royal family are placed on the site again. The organisation had to pay €1,235 in costs.
Police investigations
The home of the organization's president, Ad van den Berg, was raided by police in October 2010; downloads of illegal material had been traced back to Van den Berg's internet connection. It was announced in March 2011 that large quantities of child pornographyChild pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
were found among the confiscated material, and even more material, including computers, was confiscated when Van den Berg was arrested on March 29.
Suspects in the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
sex case, an investigation into the abuse of tens of children in Amsterdam kindergartens, were members of MARTIJN.
Catholic Church connection
On 20 May 2011 Herman Spronck, the head of the Dutch arm of the SalesianSalesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
Catholic order, confirmed to RTL Nieuws
RTL Nieuws
RTL Nieuws is a Dutch television news service produced by RTL Nederland. The national and international news service produces 17 bulletins each weekday and six weekend bulletins for RTL4 and RTL7, reaching a total audience of about 1.5 million people...
that a priest under him had been on the board of MARTIJN until the Van der Berg raids. He added "Of course we reject this and distance ourselves from this personal initiative". RTL obtained interviews both with Spronck and the priest (73-year-old "Father Van B.") in which the two defended adult-child sex as not always damaging. The priest concerned has prior convictions for child sex abuse.
Legal aspects
On 18 June 2011 the Ministry of Security and Justice announced that the association's activities are not illegal under Dutch law. Although individual members have been suspected or convicted of illegal activities, the crimes were not committed as part of tasks for the association. Consequently it is not possible to prosecute, ban or disband the association.See also
- Edward BrongersmaEdward BrongersmaEdward Brongersma was a Dutch politician and doctor of law. For a number of years he was a member of the Dutch Senate for the Labour Party, and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee...
- Dutch Society for Sexual ReformDutch Society for Sexual ReformThe Dutch Society for Sexual Reform is a Dutch organization known by the acronym NVSH . The NVSH was founded in 1946, as the successor of the Dutch Neo-Malthusian League, a birth control organisation which opened the first birth control clinic in the world in 1881, in Amsterdam...
- Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit
- NAMBLA