Prominent ‘No’ Campaigner for Dutch-Ukraine Referendum Involved in Suspicious Car Accident
Initially happy to talk about the incident, the prominent former politician now no longer wants to talk
Dutch Socialist Party member and former politician Younis Lutfula was hit by a truck in Amsterdam while on his way to Rotterdam to introduce the notorious French documentary Ukraine: The Masks of the Revolution to the Dutch public. Lutfula survived the car crash, but the presentation of the film was cancelled as a result.
News or not news? On March 18 the Russian state TV channel Rossia 1 reported the incident. But the Dutch media kept silent about it. The only public message in Dutch referring to the car crash is a tweet published by the police.
In the tweet there is no information about the identity of the people involved. It is possible the Dutch media does not know about the accident and the involvement of the important Socialist Party member. But if they do, they possibly decided not to report it since Lutfula survived the accident and there is nothing unusual about politicians and party members involved in non-lethal car accidents. The TV crew of Rossia 1 was informed of the incident immediately given they were in Rotterdam to film the Dutch premiere. There were no Dutch journalists present.
The Canal+ documentary is notorious because it mentions underexposed aspects of the Maidan revolution in Ukraine, such as the involvement of armed neo-nazis, other paramilitaries and U.S. officials. The attempt of the Ukrainian Embassy in France to prevent Canal+ from broadcasting the documentary attracted a lot of attention.
The Dutch Socialist Party decided to present the film as part of its campaign to persuade the Dutch public to vote against the EU-Ukraine association agreement in the referendum of April 6.
Lutfula, who assists MP Harry van Bommel in the Socialist Party's 'no' campaign, was hit by a truck on March 16 in Amsterdam while on his way to present Ukraine: The Masks of the Revolution at the Rotterdam branch of the Socialist Party. When the news reached Rotterdam, the organisation immediately cancelled the presentation. Lutfula carried the film projector with him and was scheduled to introduce the film and to interact with the audience.
Lutfula was taken to hospital and is now recovering at home from a concussion. "I remember I was hit by a truck from behind", he says. "After that I fell unconscious."
Lutfula does not know anything about the identity of the driver of the truck. "All I know”, he continues, “is that the license plate of the truck is registered in some foreign country and that the driver admitted it was his fault that he hit me. At least that's what my insurance agent told me: He read the police report. I asked him about the nationality of the driver and the country of registration of the truck, but he didn't want to answer those questions. I can request the police report myself, but it will take at least a month before they will send it to me."
Lutfula does not understand how the accident could have happened. "The driver has declared that he didn’t see me", he says. "But I don't understand. I had been driving right in front of him for some time."
Does he think it wasn't merely an accident? "I don't know," he responds.
Has he ever been threatened because of his involvement in the 'no' campaign of the Socialist Party? "Not really, but I don't care about people who threaten. For those who really want to hurt you there's no need to threaten."
Postscript: Younis Lutfula was not able to give a full interview. He promised to continue the above interview on another occasion. However two days later he sent a text message stating he no longer wants to talk about the car crash and now thinks it was “merely an accident”.
The author of this article asked Lutfula why he had changed his mind about both issues, but did not receive any response.
The author of this article asked Lutfula why he had changed his mind about both issues, but did not receive any response.
Socialist Party MP Harry van Bommel does not want to comment on Lutfula's car crash.
Ukraine: the Masks of the Revolution was shown on March 18 in Amsterdam by the Socialist Party.
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