The Hague district court ruled on Wednesday that while the public prosecution service did violate the right of source protection when it listened to calls with journalists, the surveillance was justified as part of the criminal investigation.

In March 2022, investigative journalist Rosan Smits and now editor-in-chief Rob Wijnberg from De Correspondent interviewed Sywert van Lienden, Bernd Damme and Camille van Gestel about selling face masks to the Dutch government during the coronavirus pandemic.

National prosecutors had permission to listen in on the conversations with the three men and installed recording devices at a a castle in Vorden where they would meet.

The trio made €28 million on the deal. Earlier this month a court ordered the men to pay at least €20 million to a foundation they set up, but bypassed, instead sending the money to a private company they owned.

The recordings were sent to the suspects’ lawyers in October 2023, who announced the conversation had been listened to by the prosecution service.

De Correspondent sued, arguing this violated source protection and wanted the recordings destroyed.

While judges faulted prosecutors for failing to inform the journalists in a timely manner that they had been recorded, they also found that the investigation wasn’t targeted at the journalists and was a value part of the criminal investigation.

Wijnberg expressed mixed feelings about the decision, telling reporters it was good the judges recognised the website should have been informed sooner but was disappointed the wiretapping was found to be justified.

The Dutch journalist union was disappointed in the outcomes. “The court hereby approves the public prosecution service using journalists to gather information from suspects. That is reprehensible and damages the credibility of journalists in relation to sources,” the NVJ said.