Former Groningen mayor loses indecent exposure appeal: €250 fine upheld

Koen Schuiling, the former mayor of Groningen, has definitively lost his appeal against a conviction for indecent exposure. On Wednesday 14 October, the Court of Appeal in Zwolle upheld a €250 fine for masturbating while driving on the A7 between Hoogezand and Groningen in March 2024, NL Times reports. The ruling confirms both the lower court's verdict from 2025 and the sentence recommended by the Public Prosecution Service (het Openbaar Ministerie, the Dutch public prosecutor).

The case dates back to March 2024, when a truck driver reported Schuiling to police. According to the appeal hearing report in NL Times, Schuiling had overtaken the driver and briefly drove alongside him with the interior light on. The driver said he saw the then-mayor with his genitals exposed, holding his penis in his right hand. "I can still see it clearly," the witness told an examining magistrate.

Schuiling, 67, denied the allegations from the start. He told the court he had severe pain in his lower abdomen, loosened his belt, and rubbed the area through his open zipper. "I did not take my trousers off, nor did I pull up my shirt," he said. He also argued that open-heart surgery had left him with erectile problems, making the act impossible.

The Court of Appeal did not accept that medical explanation. It called the truck driver's testimony "the core of the evidence," praising it as "specific and consistent," and noted that the driver had a clear view from his cab. The driver also made an audio recording in which he angrily confronted Schuiling — a recording that was entered into evidence, DutchNews.nl reports.

"Such behaviour is offensive," the court said. "The truck driver was made a participant in the other person's sexual needs." Judges also noted Schuiling drove in a disruptive manner in front of the truck, repeatedly changing speed.

Why the mayor resigned

The criminal case was not the direct reason Schuiling left office, but it effectively ended his political career. He stepped down in September 2024, a year before his term was due to end, publicly citing a lack of energy after "an extraordinarily intense period" that included the coronacrisis and the rollout of compensation for Groningen earthquake damage.

But the real trigger, according to DutchNews.nl, was a demand from Home Affairs Minister Judith Uitermark. After police and the public prosecutor briefed her about the allegations, she told Schuiling to resign, arguing that the situation exposed him to blackmail. Police had received two earlier complaints, in the six months before the A7 incident, about the mayor behaving inappropriately at the wheel.

What this means for people living in the Netherlands

For internationals, a few practical points. First, the legal process: this case shows how Dutch courts can take time. The incident happened in March 2024; the district court in Zwolle convicted Schuiling in 2025; the appeal hearing took place in September 2026; the verdict came in October 2026. That timeline is normal, especially for contested cases.

Second, Dutch criminal courts rely heavily on the consistency and plausibility of witness testimony. Here, the truck driver's detailed account, combined with the recording, was enough to convict even though there was no physical evidence or second eyewitness.

Third, the case is a reminder that public decency offences (schennis van de eerbaarheid) are treated seriously in the Netherlands, and they carry consequences beyond the fine. For Schuiling, the conviction caps a fall from a prominent public position: he had been mayor of the country's largest northern city, in charge of a region still recovering from gas-extraction earthquakes.

Schuiling did not attend Wednesday's verdict. It is not yet known whether he will pursue further legal recourse; in the Dutch system, an appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) is only possible on points of law, not on the facts.