The tobacco town, the culture donation, and the deleted emails
By Krijn Schramade (editor until December 2020), | 12 October, 2019
When British American Tobacco (BAT) closed its factory doors in the small town of Zevenaar in 2007, it donated 400,000 euros to set up ‘Stichting Cultuur BAT’, a foundation supporting local cultural events. Meanwhile, the municipality bought real estate from BAT and received a part of its renowned Peter Stuyvesant art collection. The mayor arranged these deals mostly on his own, while side-lining the municipal council.
The main reason for BAT’s cultural donation was to promote the memory of the company in the town of Zevenaar. However, from the perspective of the Dutch Tobacco Law (2003) this could be considered a prohibited form of tobacco marketing. When The Investigative Desk obtained documents about this episode via the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act (WOB), we discovered several gaps in these documents, particularly during the most crucial phase of the decision-making process. When we started legal proceedings to force the municipality to account for this gap, it deleted the mayor’s email communication with BAT.
For the full story, please visit Follow the Money.
More investigations
Netherlands Health Council removes professor with ties to the liquor industry from advisory committee
Professor Joline Beulens, an internationally renowned lifestyle researcher working at the Amsterdam UMC, is no longer a member of the Health Council’s
Toxic Trains Dossier
This dossier is the result of a five months-long collaboration of five European journalists. Together, they investigated the transportation of ammonia
How the chemical industry doctored a new EU approval of a contested pesticide
There is growing evidence that glyphosate, the world’s most widely used weedkiller, carries serious risks for human health and the environment. Even s
This is the warning Big Alcohol wants to keep off your bottles of beer
Ireland was set to become the first EU country to put cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks. But following a massive lobby campaign by Big Booze –
The hidden world behind illegal vapes
More and more Dutch young people are becoming addicted to vaping. This is not surprising, as illegal vapes with sweet flavors and excessive nicotine l
The Netherlands provides military resources to dubious regimes
Over the past decade, foreign trade ministers granted permits worth hundreds of millions for military exports to countries where there was a serious r
