Self-proclaimed vaccine expert Bill Gates and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla have been ordered by a Dutch court to appear in person as witnesses in a landmark civil lawsuit brought by victims who say Covid‑19 vaccines injured them.
Court order and case background
A district court in Leeuwarden, in the north of the Netherlands, ruled that Gates and Bourla must testify at an in‑person hearing rather than only via written statements or video link. The order stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by seven Dutch citizens who allege they suffered serious physical and psychological harm after receiving Covid‑19 shots, with one of the original plaintiffs reported to have since died.
Plaintiffs, defendants and allegations
The plaintiffs accuse senior figures and institutions of misleading the public about the safety and effectiveness of mRNA Covid‑19 vaccines and of downplaying potential adverse effects. In addition to Gates and Bourla, the suit names around 15 other defendants, including the Dutch state, former Dutch prime minister and current NATO secretary‑general Mark Rutte, members of the national Outbreak Management Team, and several Dutch media personalities. The case also poses the provocative legal question of whether the Covid‑19 injections should be considered a “bioweapon,” a framing promoted by the plaintiffs and highlighted in sympathetic alternative‑media coverage.
Legal maneuvers and expert witnesses
Gates previously challenged the Dutch court’s jurisdiction but lost in an October 2024 ruling in which judges said there was a sufficient “complex of facts” linking him to the claims and ordered him to pay about 1,400 euros in legal costs. Both Gates and Bourla have submitted written defenses; Bourla has denied any personal liability and reiterated Pfizer’s position that its Covid‑19 vaccine is “safe and effective,” while Gates has argued he does not control World Health Organization or government vaccine policies, either personally or via his foundation. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Peter Stassen has pressed the court to allow testimony from several expert witnesses on the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines. Still, other defendants, including Bourla, Rutte, and the Dutch state, have opposed calling those experts, arguing that the court already has sufficient information to dismiss the claims without an oral hearing.
The plaintiffs accuse Gates, Bourla, former PM Mark Rutte (now NATO Secretary General), and others of deliberately misleading the public about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy.
Nature of the proceedings and wider reaction
The Netherlands case is a private civil action, not a criminal prosecution, yet social‑media posts and some advocacy‑oriented outlets have portrayed it as an “indictment” or criminal trial of Gates and other officials. Fact‑checking organizations and legal analysts in Dutch and international media have stressed that the court has so far only acknowledged jurisdiction and ordered testimony in a damages case, and that the plaintiffs still face long odds in a judiciary generally seen as supportive of vaccination policy. A second, similar civil lawsuit by three additional self‑described vaccine‑injured Dutch citizens naming the same group of defendants is also moving through the courts, raising the possibility of more testimony battles in 2026.
