Home » News » After years in Thai jail, coffee shop owner Van Laarhoven is now on a plane to the Netherlands NOW

After years in Thai jail, coffee shop owner Van Laarhoven is now on a plane to the Netherlands NOW

Johan van Laarhoven, the Dutch coffee shop owner who has been detained in Thailand since 2014, is currently on his way to the Netherlands. NU.nl has been exclusively confirmed that the plane with the man has left Thai airspace.

His flight lands at Schiphol on Thursday evening. The Van Laarhoven family let NU.nl know that they are intensely relieved.

“We are incredibly happy with Johan’s return,” says Frans van Laarhoven, Johan’s brother. “My family and I can’t wait to have him back in our midst.” Van Laarhoven’s wife, who is a Thai national, was also arrested in 2014. The Van Laarhoven family says that there is hope that they too will return soon.

Van Laarhoven was convicted of money laundering in Thailand. The court had imposed a 100-year prison sentence on the Dutchman, 20 of whom he had to serve. He himself has indicated that he is innocent.

Further steps in the process are unclear

It is not clear what the further steps in the Van Laarhoven process will be. In principle, he should serve the remainder of his prison sentence in the Netherlands after this extradition. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled in November last year that this Thai sentence will be converted into the Dutch maximum sentence, namely ten years and eight months. The time that he was in the Thai cell is deducted from this.

Sidney Smeets lawyer informs NU.nl that a new procedure is being initiated to bring his case to court again in the Netherlands. This gives Van Laarhoven the chance to prove his innocence.

The Netherlands started a return procedure last year

In September last year, it was announced that the Netherlands had initiated proceedings to recover Van Laarhoven. Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus then stated that the meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in Bangkok went well.

Van Laarhoven was a coffee shop owner in the Netherlands, but decided to leave for Thailand after his retirement. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) made a request for information to Thailand in 2014, after which the man was arrested by the authorities in the country.

The National Ombudsman was rather critical of the actions of the Dutch government that would have contributed to the conviction of the former coffee shop owner.

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