Ad van den Berg
Ad van den Berg (18 March 1944 - 01 Feb 2023)[1] was a veteran 1st-wave MAP Activist, former treasurer of the PNVD and former leader of MARTIJN. He assisted with the PNVD, after it was reformed in 2020, but it was dissolved after a lawsuit against its founders and subsequent events involving their expatriation to South America.
Van den Berg was a minor TV personality in the Netherlands, having taken part in various documentaries and been pursued on film by vigilantes. He caused a stir on 31 May 2006 after he explained to the cameras of NOVA (current affairs program) what his newly founded party stood for, and also described his pedophilia.
Van den Berg was multilingual, an admirer of Edward Brongersma, and also known for his combative approach, which he stated had only hardened since zeitgeist institutions started to close ranks upon initiatives he has been involved with. He was known for accepting any invitation to live TV debates, but refusing to participate in recorded interviews due to post-production concerns.
According to Thomas O'Carroll
Ad van den Berg, at 78 an old warrior of my own generation, was president of MARTIJN, and active in the group from its earliest days after it was founded in 1982. His formative years, like mine, were in the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s, when freedom was in the air and – definitely like me until recent years – he does not appear to have been very inhibited by the age of consent laws, having been convicted in 1987 for a relationship (which he said was platonic) with an 11-year-old boy, and also a child pornography offence in 2010. It is now alleged that illegal images were also found in this latest raid, and my understanding is that this will not be contested.[2]
Historical legal issues
Van den Berg has in the past been handed a suspended sentence for a relationship with an 11 year old boy, who was manipulated into "confessing" after being indoctrinated with myths about AIDS and homosexuality.[3] In 2006, threats were made by vigilantes at his former holiday address in the municipality of Westvoorne. He has also been convicted twice for possession of images of children.[4][5]
2021 prosecution
In March 2021, Marthijn Uittenbogaard announced that he, van den Berg, Norbert de Jonge and Nelson Maatman were being prosecuted for allegedly participating in a criminal organisation. The evidence offered by the prosecution was spurious, alleging that Twitter comments and the maintenance of an academic website constituted the continuation of an organisation deemed 'criminal' under a highly controversial Dutch law.[6] Van den Berg did not end up being sentenced to prison like his colleagues were in this political trial, and he avoided the ensuing chaos as detailed in Maatman's article. He repeatedly vowed to assist his colleagues and stated that his group would start legal action against Free A Girl Foundation following media misrepresentations.
Videos
- Interview with a sexologist (in Dutch, on Belgian TV) - Video in which he appears to share a glass of wine and lighthearted banter with a female journalist (Dutch).
- Subsequent interview - This led to the sexologist's sacking. Towards the end, she reveals a copy of Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir, so it must have gotten deep.
- Video Interveiew - in English
External links
- Ketzerschriften - Blog and archive on which he was an editor
- Dutch Wikipedia
- Source: Newgon : Ad van den Berg
