The Dutch courts have published two sanctions judgments.
In the first case, the District court of Rotterdam has sentenced an individual to three years in jail.
The individual was convicted for providing technical assistance to a person in Russia or for use in Russia of different computer files containing information on the manufacture of microchips. The files were shares by Google Drive and Telegram between January 2023 and August 2024.
The defendant was acquitted of charges of physically taking similar files to Russia on USB sticks.
On sentencing the judgment stated:
“Providing advice to and sharing technology with Russia is extremely serious. It can contribute to strengthening military or strategic capabilities of that country, which has an impact on Ukraine and can indirectly affect international security and stability. It is therefore a serious offence. … The nature and seriousness of the facts justify a prison sentence of considerable duration. The fact that the files would contain outdated information is irrelevant because this information can be of great value to a country with a (much) lower level of knowledge. It must be prevented that a country at war can benefit in any way from advanced technological knowledge. After all, for that reason, an extensive package of sanctions has also been agreed against Russia, among others“.
In the second case, the District Court of Amsterdam has issued an order confiscating €1,013,956.00.
The unnamed corporate defendant had been provided goods and services in relation to the construction of the Kirch Bridge, and had been convicted on 28 November 2024 (our previous post here), with a fine of €120,000 imposed.
The court calculated that the gross revenue obtained in breach of sanctions was €2,711,085, but allowed certain costs including internal time incurred and the cost of insurance resulting in a final confiscation of €1,013,956.
The effect of this is that revenue of nearly €1.7m obtained in breach of the EU’s sanctions was retained by the convicted company.
