The Council for Journalism
P.O. Box 5116
1007 EC Amsterdam
info@rvdj.nl (mailto:info@rvdj.nl)
Subject: Complaint Against Journalist Ralf Bodelier and Related Journalistic Networks
Tilburg, May 29, 2025
1. Introduction
Dear Members of the Council for Journalism,
With this letter, I am filing a formal complaint against Mr. Ralf Bodelier, a fellow journalist and columnist. The complaint addresses systematic journalistic misconduct and the abuse of journalistic resources and networks at the expense of my safety, reputation, and legal position. This complaint also concerns serious entanglement between journalism, the judiciary, local government, digital channels, newspapers, and magazine media.
2. Background
Since 2019, I have been publishing local articles as a citizen journalist and human rights activist, focusing on social exclusion, digital inequality, and public safety. My contributions are policy-driven and aimed at improving local democratic structures, and they are published on my Pinterest project PoetryBirdsFly, on WordPress, and on Substack.
At the same time, since 2020, I have become the target of a prolonged judicial-journalistic campaign, orchestrated by a network in which fellow journalist Ralf Bodelier plays a central role. He is actively supported by Tilburg Municipality, and a circle within the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zeeland-West Brabant.
3. Journalistic Misconduct and Harm
Mr. Bodelier:
- Has repeatedly portrayed me as a “disturbed person” in public statements, without medical evidence or providing me the opportunity for a response;
- Has misused his journalistic position to cause reputational damage through lectures, interviews, columns, and social media;
- Has, through his network within local government and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, caused my legitimate reports of digital stalking to be dismissed;
- Has actively contributed to the deletion of my police file regarding digital harassment (December 16–22, 2020);
- Has employed framing, distortion of context, and abuse of power, including through local media such as Brabants Dagblad.
4. Escalation and Judicial Repression
The situation has further escalated since my earlier written complaint to you in 2020. In December 2020, my police file concerning digital and neighborhood stalking by Mr. Bodelier was deleted by municipality administrators. On June 7, 2021, Mr. Bodelier filed a complaint against me in response to my blogs, in which I described him as a digital stalker. He received support from Tilburg Municipality. Despite a letter from the Chief Commissioner of Police Zeeland-West Brabant (February 28, 2022) acknowledging my reports, I was convicted on May 13, 2022, by a magistrate from the Tilburg network, resulting in:
- A fine of €1,500 in favor of Mr. Bodelier;
- A restraining order, despite my being the original complainant;
- A community service sentence of 60 hours
- Mandatory mental health treatment for alleged delusional disorders, based on claims by the acting public prosecutor on May 13, 2022, due to their denial of serious, progressive cybercrime that has been committed with my personal data since 2016. This began with my CV on Academia, followed by systematic, long-term digital stalking, misuse of my IP address, email address, website, social media accounts, private mobile number, living environment, and correspondence with local government.
Just three weeks after my conviction, Tilburg Municipality appointed a governor for my neighborhood against whom I had been ordered a contact ban, after which the manipulation of my immediate living environment, digital identity, and personal data further escalated, even leading to 103 days of detention in PI Ter Peel, from December 6, 2023, to March 15, 2024. Upon my return from detention, the cybercrime escalated to such an extent that I took the initiative to request, via registered letters, that all tech companies investigate, document, and share the misuse of my digital identity with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, National Division.
Instead of supporting digital safety Tilburg Municipality filed a preliminary injunction against my blogs on April 25 2025 in which I criticize the failure of their local digital safety policy. They are attempting to further restrict my freedom of expression, repeating 2020.
5. Criminal and Administrative Entanglement
The prosecution against me as a citizen journalist and whistleblower was not conducted independently or objectively. On the contrary:
- My original report of digital and neighborhood stalking was confirmed in an official police letter dated February 28, 2022, from the Chief Commissioner of Police Zeeland-West Brabant.
- However, that same letter was ignored and dismissed in 2022 by an unreliable public prosecutor operating within the Public Prosecutor’s Office Zeeland-West Brabant. This prosecutor demonstrably used false evidence constructs and operates visibly in alignment with the local administrative network.
- Tom van den Oetelaar and the Brabants Dagblad were fully aware of digital crimes involving my personal data and online identity in September 2024. Nevertheless, they published a fraudulent and factually incorrect article about a pro forma hearing against me, without seeking my response and with gross factual inaccuracies.
- This publication has once again led to public portrayal of me as a suspect, while I am, in fact, a victim of cybercrime, identity misuse, and administrative exclusion.
6. Systematic Sabotage of Public Initiatives
Since 2020, I have submitted several policy proposals aimed at:
- The establishment of local human rights councils;
- The formation of independent cyber councils to oversee digital safety, civil rights, and data integrity.
These proposals have been systematically sabotaged by the aforementioned network, including:
- Ralf Bodelier, who discredits my work and stigmatizes me as unstable and dangerous;
- And the aforementioned journalist Tom van den Oetelaar, who actively contributes to the public distortion of my legal position.
This involves systematic abuse of power within an intertwined network of journalism, administration, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the judiciary, with disastrous consequences for me as a citizen journalist and whistleblower.
7. Guidelines of the Council for Journalism (January 2024)
Based on the Guidelines of the Council for Journalism (January 2024), I believe that Mr. Bodelier has repeatedly acted in violation of fundamental standards of responsible journalism, including:
- Verifiability and Transparency (A): The systematic omission of my name and that of Stichting Starwink as a collaborative partner, and publishing under my name without permission, demonstrate a lack of accountability.
- Fairness and Integrity (A, B.1, B.3): Ignoring my contributions, failing to provide an opportunity for a response, and actively harming my networks are contrary to fair journalistic practices.
- Accountability Afterward (D): Repeated requests for clarification or dialogue have been ignored by Mr. Bodelier, and attempts to engage in professional conversation have been rebuffed.
- Protection of Vulnerable Groups (A, 2018): As an individual who has been systematically intimidated and excluded, I feel inadequately protected against the power-abusing practices of Mr. Bodelier and his network.
Moreover, I see in this case a broader undermining of press freedom, where journalistic and administrative networks are used to silence critical voices through legal and social repression.
8. Consequences
The actions of Mr. Bodelier, and Tom van den Oetelaar, combined with the administrative actions of Tilburg Municipality have resulted in:
- Severe reputational and financial damage, as well as professional exclusion;
- Psychological and emotional distress;
- Infringement of my right to freedom of expression through judicial repression;
- Ongoing digital and physical intimidation, including manipulation of my personal and professional identity.
9. Request to the Council
I urgently request the Council for Journalism to:
- Conduct an independent review of Ralf Bodelier’s journalistic conduct in relation to ethical journalistic standards;
- Investigate the entanglement between journalism and the judiciary, particularly the role of Tom van den Oetelaar and his collaboration with judicial authorities;
- Acknowledge that inaccurate and incomplete media reporting (such as in Brabants Dagblad) causes profound legal and societal harm to individual citizens;
- Issue a statement on the journalistic duty to provide a fair hearing and the dangers of journalism being used as an extension of administrative reprisals;
- Provide recommendations for the structural protection of citizen journalists and whistleblowers against media and administrative repression;
- Issue a public statement to denounce such practices and uphold journalistic integrity.
If necessary, I am willing to provide additional information and evidence. For further context, I refer to my blogs on corawesterink.com, Substack, and my Pinterest project PoetryBirdsFly.
Awaiting your response,
Sincerely,
Cora Westerink
Alumna Tilburg University
Energieplein 18
5041 NH, Tilburg
Starwink Foundation, art for children and youth with fewer opportunities, 2007–present,
KvK 18087833
Attachments: seven
cc
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
Nationale Ombudsman
Chief Commissioner of Police Zeeland-West Brabant
Courts of Breda and Den Bosch
