The radio DJ and his friends, who were unknowingly traveling along the same route as Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, were mistakenly detained by armed SWAT officers.
The group was stopped in the Frankrijklei area of Antwerp city center, held at gunpoint, and then questioned at a police station for an hour.
On Friday, Serginio’s lawyer, Vito Shukrula, informed Femail that a spokesperson for the Dutch royal family had apologized for the incident.
Vito stated, “Yesterday, we were contacted by the personal spokesperson of the royal household. She conveyed that King Willem-Alexander wanted us to know that the Dutch royal family understands how deeply frightening this experience must have been for my client and his friends.
“The King also expressed his sympathy on behalf of the royal household and acknowledged that my client and his friends were victims of the situation. The royal family described it as an unfortunate consequence of the need to protect the royal household. For me and my client, this case was about receiving recognition from the royal household for the wrongdoing that occurred.
“The Dutch royal secret service made an error in judgment, mistakenly perceiving my client and his friends as a threat to the princess. It was a very unfortunate incident. My client has accepted the personal apology from the royal family, and we will not pursue further legal action, as we have achieved what we sought—recognition for the terrible and unjust arrest of my client and his friends.”
The heightened security surrounding the Crown Princess is due to her being previously targeted in a kidnapping plot by the so-called Dutch mafia, which forced her to go into hiding in Madrid for over a year.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Serginio told Dutch publication NOS, “So many things go through your mind. You start to wonder if perhaps there was ethnic profiling involved. That is a feeling every person of color experience when they are wrongfully stopped.”
