Bailiffs in ‘increasing extent’ aggressively treated by sovereigns

In his work he did learn to deal with threat and violence, says Bas Evers. Just like every bailiff. « Do not stay on the stairs in front of the door, so that they cannot push you off. If you step inside, immediately think about how you get outside again. » A colleague who was held hostage and seriously abused in 2019 has been wearing an emergency button since then.

Bailiffs regularly have to deal with violence and intimidation, warned the Royal Professional Organization of Bailiffs (KBVG) in the Lower House on Wednesday. Out Research by Bureau Ipsos I&O It turned out at the end of 2024 that eight in ten bailiffs had experienced aggression in the past year. Almost half was threatened; A quarter even had to deal with violence.

According to the KBvG, aggression is « increasingly » of sovereigns. These are people who want nothing more to do with the government and no longer want to adhere to laws and rules. Often « they write out » at the state with pseudo-legal letters and, for example, refuse to pay bills or fines.

In the Netherlands they form a relatively small group: According to the AIVD In the Netherlands, « several tens of thousands » people hang the sovereign ideas. But with aggression against bailiffs, the sovereigns are over -represented. In 31 percent of the cases of aggression against bailiffs, according to Ipsos, the perpetrator was someone who had declared himself sovereign.

The phenomenon is not completely new, says Marieke Boon, bailiff and aggression coordinator at bailiff’s office Flanderijn. She has come across the sovereigns since 2007 at her work. She does see that their number has increased sharply since the Coronapandemie.

According to her, most of the sovereigns are not aggressive. « But almost all of them are intimidating. They are attacking the conversation, ask which authorization you are here, which gives you the right to claim money. »

Threat and doxing

The intimidation sometimes also changes to threat or doxing, the undesirable sharing of private data. For example, according to Boon, independent bailiffs ‘massively’ had their home address shielded at the Chamber of Commerce due to the threat that assumed some sovereigns. Evers also says he is aware of app groups in which, for example, addresses of bailiffs are shared, or names of family members.

According to Boon, what makes contact very rough is that sovereigns see bailiffs as an extension of the government. After all, they come to execute a judgment of the judge – for example an seizure or evacuation. For a self -proclaimed sovereign, the KBvG states, the visit of a bailiff offers « an opportunity to show the rejection of the democratic constitutional state in word and deed. »

But executing judgments is not their only work, say the bailiffs. Evers: « People forget that we also have a social function. We can think along with someone what they can do to get out of trouble. For example, by referring to a psychologist, or to a debt counselor. »

Boon: « You try to find out how people got into debt, and let the conversation about solutions go. » But according to her, that does not work in people who are in the ‘Maalstroom’ of the sovereign ideas. « You no longer reach people. »

« Sovereign » influencers

Both the KBVG and the AIVD note that people in a financially vulnerable situation are sensitive to the message of « sovereign » influencers. According to the AIVD, they promise ‘golden mountains’ by claiming that people no longer have to keep their financial obligations if they declare themselves sovereign. For the influencers it is a revenue model: in An investigation into the Movement from 2023 found the program Pointer Decided telegram groups, in which the founders, among other things, offered diplomatic fake passports, sample letters and courses ‘sovereign’ – often against payment.

In the meantime, the followers get further and further into trouble, Boon sees. « There is nothing more poignant than people who are convinced that this ideas will help them. You try to tell them that they have to solve their problem. That they have to pay their rent, for example, because otherwise you have to put them out of their house. But the shutters will stay closed. Then you get an eviction while you know: these people could have been helped. »

In such a situation where people lose control of their lives, according to Boon they also go over the wrote faster. But she emphasizes that escalation really does not only occur with sovereigns. « It happens in all layers of the population, even with people you don’t expect it. »

Rarely declaration

Bailiffs who have to deal with aggression or violence rarely report, says the KBVG. As a rule, bailiffs work alone, so there are hardly any witnesses. « Then it is your word to theirs, » says Evers. In the absence of evidence, things are often dismissed.

For that reason, the KBvG argues that the testimony of bailiffs in such a one-to-one situation should outweigh that of an ordinary citizen. Just like for example, a police officer applies. Both Boon and Evers think a good plan. Boon: « A bailiff is a civil servant who has taken an oath. You should be able to trust that. As a society we can’t do without bailiffs, so we shouldn’t find it okay that they are treated in this way. »

To share

Mail the editors