Public Prosecution Service will prosecute Ali B and Jeroen Rietbergen for sex offenses | show

Marco Borsato will not be prosecuted for a Voice-related report. The Public Prosecution Service dismissed that case because the victim’s statement in his case is not supported by a second piece of evidence. There is another case against Borsato, which has not yet been decided.

At the end of April last year, the judiciary started a criminal investigation against four suspects of sex offenses around talent show The Voice Of Holland. The matters came to light during a broadcast in January 2022 of Tim Hofman’s YouTube program Boos about transgressive behavior surrounding the talent show. Four men came under fire: former jurors Ali B and Marco Borsato, band leader Jeroen Rietbergen and director Martijn N. At least six reports were received, including rape and assault. Not all reports are Voice-related, but most of them came to light due to the fuss about the once-famous talent show.

It was previously announced that Martijn N. will not be prosecuted, despite two reports, due to a lack of evidence. But the cases against Ali B, Rietbergen and Borsato remained under investigation. The most striking victim in the whole case is ex-participant Nienke Wijnhoven, who stepped forward as one of the few declarants and told her story. She reported rape against Jeroen Rietbergen.

Three reports of rape and one of assault were filed against Ali B. One case of rape is dismissed because no criminal offenses have been established. Ali B will therefore be prosecuted for three other offences. The suspicion relates to acts allegedly committed in 2014 and 2018 in Heiloo, Amsterdam and abroad. One of those three facts is ‘Voice related’.

Jeroen Rietbergen was the only one of the suspects to admit that he had acted cross-border, but denies that he has committed criminal offences. His partner Linda de Mol immediately put him aside, but stories are now circulating that the couple would be back together.

The case of Marco Borsato (reporting transgressive behaviour) is partly not with the Public Prosecution Service Central Netherlands, but with OM Noord-Holland. Before the Voice affair, there was already a case against him about the daughter of a fan club president. That case is still ongoing. Borsato made a counter-declaration in that case ‘of making a false declaration’. In addition to that case, there was also an investigation against Borsato about a Voice-related report. So that case is now closed.

Nienke Wijnhoven lets it be known through her lawyer Sébas Diekstra that she finally feels that she is getting recognition for what happened to her. Recognition because she is really heard as a victim. Her experiences have not been trivialized or distorted. What happened to her is now also accepted as truth by the Public Prosecution Service. She is grateful for the thorough and honest criminal investigation that has taken place.

Wijnhoven hopes that others will feel strengthened by this to step forward after all. She wants to say to other victims: “It’s not you and you’re not alone.”