Gerard Spong (born 9 June 1946) is a Dutch

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se descent.

Biography

Spong was born in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

, Suriname. He was a cousin of film director Pim de la Parra. In 1962, he moved to

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the Geest, geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeent ...

in the Netherlands. From 1967 to 1973, he studied political science and law in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. After graduating, he returned to Paramaribo, where he was sworn in as a lawyer. In 1976, he returned to Amsterdam. With Mischa Wladimiroff, he started the law firm ''Wladimiroff & Spong Advocaten''. Meanwhile, he specialized in criminal law. In 1978, Spong defended the interests of Knut Folkerts, Christof Wackernagel and Gert Schneider, three members of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

who were arrested in the Netherlands in 1977 and imprisoned in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. The three appealed against an extradition request from

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and wanted to be seen as a political refugee. Eventually, they were transferred to Germany in October 1978. In 1980, he defended a number of opponents of the then Surinamese dictator

Desi Bouterse Desi ( or or ; Hindustani: देसी , , ) also Deshi, is a loose term used to describe the peoples, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit (), meaning 'land' or 'country'. Desi trace ...

in Paramaribo, who had to appear before the ward council. Spong was suddenly arrested at night by Bouterse's military in his room at the Torarica hotel and was brought to Fort Zeelandia (Bouterse's headquarters). Spong was questioned here by Bouterse and Roy Horb, and released again after eleven hours. He had to leave the country immediately. In 2008, Spong was one of the guests of ''

College Tour A college tour, also called a campus tour, is a tour of a college or university's campus. Prospective students, their family members and other visitors take campus tours to learn about the college or university's facilities, as well as student life, ...

'', a television program where students interview a guest. The show was held at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. One of the students asked Spong why

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

, a far-right Dutch politician, had never been prosecuted for

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

. Spong replied that public prosecutors lacked guts, and freely offered his services to file charges against Wilders on behalf of the students. The Public Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute, therefore, Spong filed an forcing a prosecution. In 2011, Wilders had to appear in court for hate speech. He was found not guilty. Spong received multiple death threats during the period. From 2015 to 2020, Spong advocated for the release of coffeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven from imprisonment in Thailand for money laundering.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spong, Gerard 1946 births Living people 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Surinamese lawyers Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Surinamese people of Jewish descent Surinamese people of Portuguese descent People from Paramaribo Surinamese exiles 21st-century Dutch lawyers