December 9, 2020

Dutch film ‘Accused’ sold to the US

Filed under: Film by Orangemaster @ 6:00 am

Directed by Paula van der Oest and written by Moniek Kramer, Dutch thriller ‘Accused’ from 2014 (in Dutch ‘Lucia de B.’, named after the main character and real-life accused Lucia de Berk – Dutch tradition only allows a last name initial in the press) has been sold to American interests, according to Dutch broadcaster Omroep West. The film is scheduled to be released early next year in North America, according to Rinkel Film. ‘Accused’ was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, making the January Shortlist.

In 2001, Lucia de Berk a licensed paediatric nurse from The Hague was accused of having murdered dozens of patients. Most of her guilt was determined by statistics: she had been near the victims at the time of their deaths, and although a direct link with her in the form of a confession or evidence could not be established, the court found that the statistical likelihood of her being near all these victims at the time of death was so minute, she must have done it.

According to Wikipedia, in 2003, she was sentenced to life imprisonment (for which no parole is possible under Dutch law) for four murders and three attempted murders of patients in her care. After an appeal in 2004 she was convicted of seven murders and three attempts. Her conviction was controversial in the media and among scientists, and was questioned by investigative reporter Peter R. de Vries. In October 2008, the case was reopened by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, as new facts had been uncovered that undermined the previous verdicts. De Berk was freed, and her case was re-tried; she was exonerated in April 2010.

At this time it’s unclear whether the film will hit movies theatres due to the health crisis, but it will be available as video on demand (VOD).

(Link: denhaagfm.nl, Photo of Lucia de Berk by Carole Edrich. Some rights reserved)

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March 27, 2010

Angel of Death, unemployed prosecuted, Superbus – updates

Filed under: Automobiles,Health by Branko Collin @ 12:29 pm

Here are some interesting updates of past 24 Oranges stories.

* Lucia de Berk, the serial killer seemingly convicted on the basis of flawed statistics, received some good news today. Now that her case has been re-opened, the public prosecutor has asked the court to free her and drop all charges against the former nurse.

In 2004 De Berk, nicknamed Angel of Death, received a life sentence for seven murders and three attempted murders of patients under her care. Rather than proving murders had taken place, the prosecution shopped for natural deaths that could pass for suspicious, and if it turned out that De Berk had been working when the alleged victims died, added them to its list. After statisticians brought their objections to this method to public attention, the supreme court decided to let a lower court re-open the case.

The verdict has been announced for April 14.

* Minister Donner of the department of Social Affairs has been told by parliament to re-open the cases of unemployed entrepreneurs who were accused of fraud and sometimes prosecuted for it by UWV, the same organisation that had been feeding them false information that led to this ‘fraud’ in the first place.

The accused were participating in a work re-integration programme that allowed them to set up their own companies while still receiving benefits during the incubation phase. They received benefits for the difference between hours worked and hours available for work, where UWV initially defined ‘hours worked’ as ‘hours billed.’ However, the law says that non-billable hours also count as ‘hours worked.’

UWV (formerly known as GAK) is a private institute that is tasked with distributing unemployment benefits under the supervision of Donner’s department. When the minister pointed out that opening dossiers of already convicted felons was ‘impossible,’ that only seemed to rub parliament the wrong way, according to NRC.

* The Delft students that designed the eco-friendly Superbus are currently building a working prototype. In 2009, after extensive testing on a track, the chassis was built (see image).

The Superbus is a 15-metre-long vehicle that fits 23 passengers. It drives over a dedicated, cheap, concrete lane and doesn’t use bus stops. Instead, prospective passengers indicate where and when they want to board, and presumably the driver caters to these wishes. The Superbus is electrically powered, using lithium polymer battery packs and regenerative braking. Its top speed is 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph). Top Gear, are you reading this?

(Source photo: Superbus)

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