Who are we
Staff Members
Lawyer
Veerle Goudswaard is the director of Dutch&Detained. She is a lawyer specialized in international criminal law. She previously worked as a lawyer at NautaDutilh and Stapert Advocaten. At Dutch&Detained she advises Dutch nationals who are detained abroad. She also assists Dutch nationals who risk the death penalty abroad.
Legal advisor
Sofie Bollen studied International Relations (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) and Criminal Law (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). As a legal advisor at Dutch&Detained, she uses her knowledge of the international criminal law practice and diplomacy to provide legal assistance to Dutch nationals detained abroad.
Lawyer
Bart Krämer has been working as a criminal law attorney in the Netherlands since 2013. After more than 5 years at Ficq&partners, Bart joined the partnership Van der Meij Advocaten. Bart uses his wealth of experience in national and international criminal law to assist in Dutch&Detained’s work. In particular, Bart focuses on providing solutions to detainees in the US and to individuals who risk the death penalty.
Lawyer
Talha Yilmaz is a criminal lawyer in The Hague. He also volunteers at Dutch&Detained. Talha speaks Dutch, English, Turkish and Arabic fluently.
Lawyer
As a lawyer at Dutch&Detained, Devika focuses on Dutch detainees in Asia, including those risking the death penalty. Devika was admitted to the bar in 2014 and started her career at Stapert & Wiersum, where she specialised in extradition, terrorism, human trafficking and the death penalty.
Junior paralegal
Roza has been working at Dutch&Detained since March 2021, first as an intern, currently as a paralegal. She recently graduated in a double master’s degree in civil- and criminal law. At Dutch&Detained, Roza focusses on Dutch citizens detained in the US.
Lawyer
Aram van Galen has been a criminal lawyer since 2011. At Dutch&Detained, Aram focuses on Dutch detainees in Turkey. In addition to his work at Dutch&Detained, Aram has his own criminal law practice, specialised in international and general criminal law.
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Supervisory Board
Chairman Supervisory Board
Bart Stapert is an Appellate Court Judge. He previously worked as a lawyer in the United States and the Netherlands. Human rights and international criminal law were always central to this.
Martin Witteveen works part-time for the Public Prosecution Service in the position of Advocate General, specializing in war crimes and human trafficking. He has worked as a prosecutor for most of his career.
Patrick Lodiers (1971) is a presenter and program maker on radio and TV. At the moment Lodiers can be heard a lot on Radio 1 with De Nieuws BV.
Mariëlle van Dijk works full-time as a Chartered Accountant with a specialization in not-for-profit and fundraising organizations. At Dutch&Detained, within the Supervisory Board, Mariëlle is responsible for supervising financial management.
In Memoriam
Derk Wiersum 1975-2019
On September 18, 2019, our colleague and friend was killed.
Derk Wiersum (1975-2019) studied law in Groningen. He was sworn in as a lawyer in 2003. Since then he has worked at various law firms.
More about Derk
Veerle Goudswaard (1984) behaalde de bachelor Criminal Justice (BA) aan de Michigan State University in de Verenigde Staten. Vervolgens studeerde zij Conflict Resolution and Governance (MSc) en Internationaal Strafrecht (LLB en LLM) aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Tijdens haar studie beoefende Veerle topsport en liep zij stage bij Böhler Advocaten (thans Prakken d’Oliveira), waar zij onder andere deelnam aan een rogatoire commissie naar Rwanda.
Na haar studie is Veerle als advocaat gaan werken bij NautaDutilh op de afdeling Fraud & White Collar Crime, met een specialisatie in dual-use regelgeving en het economische sanctierecht. Vervolgens hield Veerle zich bij Stapert Advocaten bezig met Nederlandse strafzaken, uitleveringszaken, en stond zij samen met Bart Stapert Nederlanders bij die in het buitenland de doodstraf riskeren.
Bij Dutch&Detained adviseert zij Nederlanders die in het buitenland zijn gedetineerd.
Naast haar werk als advocaat is Veerle actief als vrijwilliger bij Lawyers for Lawyers.
Veerle spreekt Nederlands, Engels en heeft een goede basis van Spaans.
Derk Wiersum (1975) studeerde rechten in Groningen. In 2003 is hij beëindigd als advocaat. Sindsdien heeft hij bij verschillende advocatenkantoren gewerkt. Hij heeft daarbij veel ervaring opgedaan binnen alle aspecten en fases van het strafrecht, in het bijzonder zware en georganiseerde criminaliteit. Daarnaast heeft hij veel cliënten bijgestaan in allerlei internationale kwesties. Specifiek is hij daarbij gespecialiseerd in Europese overleveringszaken.
Zijn ruime ervaring als strafrechtadvocaat zet Derk nu in om voor Dutch&Detained Nederlandse gedetineerden in het buitenland (zowel Europa als daarbuiten) te voorzien van juridisch advies.
Naast zijn werk als advocaat voor zijn eigen advocatenkantoor en stichting Dutch&Detained is Derk docent bij de OSR. Ook is hij sinds juli 2017 rechter-plaatsvervanger bij de rechtbank Zeeland – West-Brabant.
Derk spreekt Nederlands, Engels en Frans.