In the first months of 2011 the IISH acquired the papers of the Amsterdam lawyer and judge Willem van Bennekom. Born in Amsterdam in 1941 Van Bennekom grew up in Middelburg, in the southwest of the Netherlands. After having studied classical languages and law, he became a lawyer in Amsterdam. In the 1970s and 1980s he was considered a 'political lawyer'. He became very well-known when he successfully blocked the expulsion of the American Vietnam deserter Ralph Waver in 1971. His efforts resulted in Waver receiving permission to stay in Amsterdam in January 1972. In those years Van Bennekom also defended members of the German Rote Armee Fraktion and the Irish IRA. From 1995 Van Bennekom was a judge and from 2003 until 2006 vice-president of the Amsterdam Court.
In addition to addresses to the court, the papers contain many documents on the Waver case as well as on detained members of the IRA (Gerard Kelly, Brendan McFarlane) and RAF (Gert Schneider). Also included are demonstrations by Iranian students in the Netherlands and immigrants from Morocco. Interesting are documents throwing new light on his relation with fellow lawyer and good friend Pieter Herman Bakker Schut. Also of interest are documents showing his reflections on the changes in the Dutch government's alien policy.
Brief archival description
Posted: June 2011
Willem van Bennekom speaks, cal no BG E31/535