The gang rape had been part of an intimidation campaign against Willie Dille (53) in the city council. In the video, Dille described how the gang had wanted to silence her during council debates. They had threatened to kill her, stating that “we will soon cut your throat and let you bleed to death”.
Dille appeared most distressed and anxious in the video: “I just want the world to know the truth. 15 March 2017 I was kidnapped, raped and assaulted by a group of Muslims because they wanted me to keep quiet in the Hague city council.”
The kidnapping and assault happened on the day of the parliamentary elections. “After it happened, I did not tell anyone, I just did my debates the next day.”
She said she had been afraid that someone might hurt her children. “I cannot live with that. They don’t like women at all. They don’t like me at all,” Dille said. “That’s why I decided to stop.” The video was removed shortly after being posted.
Dille had been an MP for the anti-immigrant Freedom Party from 2010-2012 before returning to her seat on The Hague city council. Wilders expressed his shock at the news of her untimely death on Twitter. He said that she would be missed “enormously”.
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) August 9, 2018
Local Freedom Party leader, Karen Gerbrands said in a statement that Dille “could no longer bear what had happened to her and the reactions she had had”. Gerbrands said the party owed it to Dille to continue their fight against Islamists.
— Karen Gerbrands (@KarenGerbrands1) August 9, 2018
In the video Dille says that she and her family had been threatened several times but that “the police had failed” to protect them.
Officials meanwhile have been frantically trying to blame Dille for her silence. Police on Thursday afternoon said that they had contacted Dille after learning about the rape. The deceased PVV council member did not want to file a report with the police and did not want any interference from the police. This was confirmed by the municipality of The Hague and the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
Police spokesperson Hilde Vijverberg told Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad (AD): There was talk of rape. We offered her help and said we need a formal complaint and concrete evidence to start an investigation. But she did not make a formal complaint and we did not get any concrete information to enable us to launch an inquiry.”
After consultation between the Hague mayor Pauline Krikke, the Public Prosecution Service and the police about what had happened, “she did not want to provide any more information on the basis of which an investigation could have been started officially”, the Public Prosecution Service explained.
Dille had also accused Arnoud van Doorn, a converted Muslim, of being part of the assault. The accused Van Doorn said on Thursday that he would not “lower himself” by commenting on the gang rape. He later tweeted from his holiday address: “The Netherlands, the media and the hate politicians can go to hell!”
Beste media, ik ben op vakantie dus bellen heeft geen zin. Ik verlaag mij niet tot een inhoudelijke reactie op de aantijgingen van mw Dille. Wel overweeg ik aangifte wegens smaad/laster. Ik wens iedereen nog een mooie zomer 👍😎
— Arnoud van Doorn (@ArnoudvDoorn) August 8, 2018
According to the Public Prosecutor, Dille was approached at the end of last year by the police to report or tell her story after she had told someone in her area.
Both the municipality and the police had spoken to Willie Dille on several occasions, but Dille had refused to file a complaint “for reasons that we do not know,” the officials said, ignoring the fear that Dille had expressed about the safety of her children when going public.
“I think we should take Willie’s statement very seriously and I think that there should be an investigation into the role of all authorities and the mayor,” said Daniëlle Koster (CDA). “What happened? Has everyone acted as they should at all times? Were Willie’s complaints taken seriously? Has her safety been adequately taken into account?”
Koster suggested that Mayor Krikke should have offered Dille extra protection after her report on the gang rape became known.
Koster pointed out that PVV members have had to endure serious threats and intimidations. “Geert Wilders is not kept safe for nothing. I know that all PVV people receive a lot of shit and misery. Had all these aspects been sufficiently taken into account after the report about the rape?”
There had been no reason not to believe in Willie’s statement. “I do not believe you make up such a story.”
Nobody saw anything coming, she says. “Dille made a very strong impression in the board in recent months. I did not feel that there was more to her. She made the impression that she had enjoyed her role. I had the feeling that she had extra flair in the debates and that she made the PVV in The Hague more relevant again. She did well.”
Dille’s husband and a close friend say they do not doubt her story. “The rape happened, I’m sure that it is the truth,” Caspar Reedijk, her husband, told Dutch media outlet AD.
Linda, Dille’s best friend, told the same newspaper: “She wasn’t sick or confused, I had daily contact with her. Her husband, I and others who knew Willie Dille don’t doubt one second of her story.”
She says she also knows why Dille did not file charges, but it’s not up to her to reveal the reason for that. She said the hateful comments on social media about Dille’s death was horrible because Willie was the sweetest and most helpful woman she knew.
