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Milieudefensie Supervisory Board Resigns Over Ex-Director's Undisclosed Far-Right Past
🇳🇱 Netherlands /Culture & Society

Milieudefensie Supervisory Board Resigns Over Ex-Director's Undisclosed Far-Right Past

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • The supervisory board of Milieudefensie has resigned due to controversy surrounding former director Donald Pols's far-right past.
  • Pols recently left Tata Steel after just one day following revelations about his involvement with an extreme-right student movement in South Africa.
  • Milieudefensie's board acknowledged knowing about Pols's past since 2021 but chose not to disclose it publicly, leading to internal unrest.

The supervisory board of the environmental organization Milieudefensie has resigned following significant controversy over the undisclosed far-right past of its former director, Donald Pols. The organization's board announced the decision in a press statement Tuesday, citing a "lack of trust" between the staff and the board.

lack of trust

— Milieudefensie BoardThe board cited this as the reason for their resignation.

Pols's departure from Milieudefensie to work at steel manufacturer Tata Steel was short-lived. He left the company after only one day amid revelations published by NRC Handelsblad detailing his past activism. During his student years in South Africa, Pols was a prominent figure in the extreme-right Afrikaner Studente Front (ASF), a movement that opposed the anti-racist African National Congress (ANC) during the apartheid era.

I chose a path that I now look back on with disgust.

— Donald PolsPols commented on his past activism in an interview.

In an interview with NRC, Pols expressed regret for his past actions, stating he looked back on that period with "disgust." However, the news caused "great unrest" within Milieudefensie, particularly because the organization admitted to being aware of Pols's history since 2021. At that time, Pols reportedly expressed remorse to the supervisory board and distanced himself from his past.

overwhelmed by Pols's controversial past

— Jacqueline SmitThe interim director of Milieudefensie expressed her reaction to the revelations.

Despite this knowledge, Milieudefensie's leadership decided not to inform the public or its thousands of donors about Pols's background. Furthermore, the organization had for years displayed a CV on its website that intentionally omitted crucial details about Pols's time and studies in Pretoria. Jacqueline Smit, the interim director of Milieudefensie, stated she was "taken aback" by the revelations and the board's prior knowledge, calling the full board's resignation "understandable."

And also by the fact that the supervisory board already knew this for years.

— Jacqueline SmitSmit commented on the supervisory board's prior knowledge of Pols's past.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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