Nelson Maatman

Nelson Maatman

Campaign poster: see inside for Spanish version

Nelson Maatman is a young, second-wave MAP activist from the Netherlands, and former chair of the dissolved PNVD. He is currently incarcerated in Mexico.

In 2022, he was threatened with jail for continuing the activities of the banned political organization, Vereniging MARTIJN, which ceased operation before he became active as a campaigner. He has been known leave the Netherlands at various points, and this has sometimes characterized as "fleeing" the country in light of his legal struggles. In 2022, it was revealed that he was seeking political asylum in Mexico, following the inconclusive results of the above-mentioned trial in the Netherlands. He has since been arrested, and appears to have lost control of the information narrative surrounding his case, making occasional posts on FreeSpeechTube appealing for help. His dramatic ensnarement was carried out in front of multiple camera men, and his arrest was aided at the operational level by an NGO with suspected links to Q-Anon, and followed by multiple inaccurate and defamatory news articles.

Background

Maatman first came to the public's attention after he sought to make an appearance at Amsterdam’s annual Pride march in the summer of 2019. He had devised a social experiment whereby he attempted to bring back the tradition of advocating for minor and MAP rights at Pride events. Maatman has taken part in a number of "pride walks" carrying a flag that bares the CLogo. He has been officially barred from pride events however, and has since appealed to human rights organizations. Maatman also took part in a viral television interview, in which he made provocative statements about sexual relationships between adults and minors. Soon-after this interview, he was arrested under statutes on illegal images, but no solid evidence has thus far been indicated.

2021 Prosecution

In March 2021, Marthijn Uittenbogaard announced that he, Maatman, Norbert de Jonge and Ad van den Berg were being prosecuted for allegedly participating in a criminal organization. The evidence offered by the prosecution was spurious, alleging that Twitter comments and the maintenance of an academic archive constituted the continuation of an organization deemed 'criminal' under a highly controversial Dutch law. On 12 March, 2022, a Dutch court sentenced both De Jonge and Uittenbogaard to prison for continuing Martijn's political activities. Maatman had to be assigned new judges because of a mistake by the district court, but then left the country and openly sought asylum in Mexico, residing at an address in Mexico City for 3-4 months. It later emerged that Uittenbogaard and De Jonge also fled for South America, but in a more covert manner - not disclosing their locations.

Dramatic arrest in Mexico, and prospects of deportation

On 5 June, 2022, 27 year old Maatman was arrested near his address in Mexico City, following an early March press-release, petition and social media campaign from the Netherlands-based Free A Girl Foundation, in which unsupported statements were made about him. A pro-conspiratorialist trafficking charity, Operation Underground Railroad have also been mentioned in some reports as a "partner" of Free A Girl, and claim to have carried out a sting on Maatman and then provided a sniffer dog for use at his apartment. News reports then erroneously claimed that he was a suspected "child predator" who "founded" the PNVD (in fact set up in 2006, when he was 11 years old). The Daily Mail and Newsweek also suggested Maatman (at that point broke and known only as an activist) was thought to be leader of a far-reaching Youth Erotica ring - echoing the claims of Mexican authorities. Police claimed to have initially found cocaine and a gun on Maatman. The dog - property of the aforementioned conspiratorialist trafficking charity, was said to have located large amounts of Youth Erotica in "hard to reach places" after a warrant was obtained for a search on Maatman's apartment. These claims might be somewhat questionable given Maatman would have been aware he was at risk. Mexican Law Enforcement are notoriously corrupt, and this is known to extend to planting evidence on suspects that matches their "suspicious behavior".

One-time associate, Norbert de Jonge stated in a comment thread that the accusations re. drugs and gun possession are likely to be correct. Maatman has produced videos in the past suggesting that he was planning to purchase a gun (in Mexico) in order to protect himself. De Jonge agreed (in comments that are no longer visible, due to his own legal troubles) that CP evidence may well have been planted. The claim that Maatman was somehow leader of a Child Porn trading operation is thought to be highly implausible by those closest to him. In the years leading up to his arrest, Maatman's online activity consisted of posting his face, full identity and thoughts on a public website (Free Speech Tube) originally set up by a friend (De Jonge). He seemingly took this upon himself for the benefit of only 500 views and 6-8 "likes" per video, and yet is accused of also running a covert trading operation on a grand scale.

Gallery

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  Free A Girl Social Media Activity as of 01 Mar, accompanied by petition template

Defamatory article at Reduxx.info

On June 11, Reduxx, a radical-feminist alt-news website co-founded by Anna Slatz, (an admirer of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard), released a defamatory article that claimed Maatman had been seeking to "purchase a child". This claim was made without further substantiation. These claims are probably based upon statements made by Mexican Public Prosecutor Laura Angelina Borbolla Moreno - said in turn, to be based upon the unsubstantiated words of an "anonymous reporter" in an earlier story.

Other misinformation/defamation

It has variously been claimed in "news" sources that Maatman is the "Founder of a Children's Liberation Front", and was caught "making an [sic] grownup video with a toddler". At one point, mainstream news sources such as the UK's Daily Mail started referring to him as "Jason Maatman". In late June, 2022, Maatman was again mentioned in media stories, following the further arrests of PNVD old-guard who had fled to Ecuador. In this instance, it was alleged that Maatman was involved in the grand-scale orchestration of Child Sexual Abuse in the country, despite having left for Central and South America, only months earlier. In July, one suspect News Site claimed that Maatman had been raped in his jail cell, although this appears to be based on claims from his lawyer that he was facing "immoral humiliations".

Resumed posting on FST

Since his incarceration, Maatman has posted to Free Speech Tube, denying all of the allegations, and describing a set-up. He denies that he was raped, but alleges mistreatment. Owing to the scarcity of reliable evidence, Maatman could be deported to The Netherlands, without charges being initiated in Mexico, but according to him, this would require legal assistance.

External Links

• Tom O'Carroll - With some information in English - source used in this article.