The European Commission has halted all aid to Sierra Leone over the African country’s refusal to extradite Dutch drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, Minister David van Weel of Justice and Security told the Telegraaf.
The convicted drug criminal, also known as Bolle Jos, has been living in Sierra Leone for some time and reportedly has close ties with its president’s family. He has been sentenced to around 80 years in prison in the Netherlands and Belgium combined for drug trafficking. The Netherlands has been trying to get Leijdekkers extradited for months, but with no success.
“I am very pleased with this move. It is deeply galling that European Union funds are going to a country that refuses to cooperate with the extradition of someone like Bolle Jos,” Van Weel told the newspaper.
Earlier this year, Van Weel said that the Netherlands would try to convince the EU to halt development aid to Sierra Leone. He argued that getting Leijdekkers out of Sierra Leone was also in the West African country’s best interest. “In our estimation, this man has an income of hundreds of millions of euros per month in a country with a gross national product lower than his income. That will naturally corrupt such a country completely,” the Minister said at the time.
The EU allocates a total of €325 million in grants to Sierra Leone for the 2021 to 2027 period. According to the Telegraaf, Sierra Leone was set to receive another €18 million from the EU this year and €20.5 million next year. The West African country will not receive the remainder of this year’s amount. No decision has been made about next year’s subsidy.
The newspaper also wrote that discussions were underway about potential EU-wide sanctions targeting “types like Bolle Jos.”
The European Commission has not confirmed the suspension of aid to Sierra Leone through its official channels yet.
Source: NL Times
