Second survey highlights downturn in support for the Dutch king

DutchNews, April 27, 2022 

Photo: Robin Utrecht 

RVD A second survey has highlighted the downturn in support for king Willem-Alexander and the criticism of the way he acted during the coronavirus crisis. 

Last week, a poll involving 26,000 people for television show EenVandaag showed just 54% have faith in the monarch and now an Ipsos survey for news channel NOS paints a similar picture. 

Just 47% of those in the NOS survey have confidence in the way the king does his job and only similar percentage think he performed well during the past two years. Before coronavirus hit, 75% thought the king was performing well. 

The two years of coronavirus have been particularly damning for the royals, following a string of blunders over holidays, and culminating in a small party for oldest daughter Amalia when she turned 18 during the lockdown at the end of last year. 

The Ipsos survey gave the king a personal score of 6.7 out of 10, which is well down on the 7.7 he scored in 2020. Queen Máxima’s score of 7.6 is virtually unchanged on 2021 but down on her 2020 rating of 8. Seven in 10 of survey respondents said they thought she was doing a good job. 

Despite the criticism, 58% still support the monarchy as an institution, roughly in line with the EenVandaag figure.

Former ING chief should face charges over bank’s money laundering scandal: court

DutchNews, December 9, 2020 

Photo: ING.com

Former ING chief executive Ralph Hamers should face charges personally for his role in the money laundering scandal which led the financial services group to reach a €775m out of court settlement in 2018, appeal court judges in The Hague said on Wednesday. 

The case has been brought by campaign group Sobi, which says Hamers should face criminal charges. ‘The facts are serious, no settlement was reached with the management and he has never accepted public responsibility for his actions,’ campaigner Pieter Lakeman said. 

‘Managers who consciously make mistakes should not be able to buy themselves free by agreeing to very high fines while shareholders pick up the bill. It is of great importance that Hamers faces prosecution.’ 

The court said in its ruling that while it supported the public prosecution’s decision to look for a settlement, as CEO, Hammers was authorised and required to take measures to prevent criminal behaviour. ‘However, not only did he fail to do this and thereby promote this behaviour, but he also consciously accepted the risk that it would continue,’ the court said. 

ING said in a reaction it regretted the court decision. ‘We … regret the decision to order the prosecution of our former CEO, which goes against the assessment of the public prosecutors that, based on the investigation, there are no grounds for a case against ING employees or former employees,’ ING said in a statement. 

Hamers is now chief executive of Swiss bank UBS which, according to Reuters, says it is confident he will be able to remain in the job. 

The public prosecution department reached a €775m out of court settlement with ING for failing to properly monitor money transfers for potential money laundering in September 2018.

The department said between 2010 and 2016, the bank’s clients were effectively able to launder hundreds of millions of euros because ING was not doing its job properly. Banks are required by law to report suspicious transactions.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

McDonald's sues former CEO for lying about sexual relationships

Yahoo – AFP, DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS, August 10, 2020

McDonald's said former CEO Steve Easterbrook "destroyed information
regarding inappropriate personal behavior"

Fast-food giant McDonald's announced on Monday it is suing former CEO Steve Easterbrook for lying about allegedly inappropriate sexual relationships with employees.

Easterbrook was dismissed in November 2019 over his "poor judgment" in engaging in a consensual relationship with a member of staff in violation of company policy.

McDonald's said it had subsequently learned that Easterbrook lied "and destroyed information regarding inappropriate personal behavior" and relationships with three other employees, as well as providing stock worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to one of the employees.

The chain is seeking to recover compensation and severance benefits paid to the executive under the terms of his departure last year, according to a securities filing.

The lawsuit, which alleges that Easterbrook committed fraud by misleading the company over the separation agreement, has been filed in a state court in Delaware.

"(He) was knowingly untruthful with McDonald's investigators," says the complaint.

Easterbrook's separation agreement included six months' severance pay, plus stock options.

Steve Easterbrook, pictured here in July 2016, was CEO at McDonald's from
March 2015 to November 2019

US media reports have estimated his exit package at around $40 million.

In 2018, Easterbrook's base pay was $1.3 million and his total compensation including bonus and stock options was $15.9 million.

He was replaced by Chris Kempczinski, who joined McDonald's in October 2015 after working in a senior strategic role at Kraft Foods and previously at PepsiCo.

One day after Easterbrook's departure, McDonald's announced that its top human resources executive, David Fairhurst, who joined McDonald's in 2005 and was named chief people officer at the restaurant chain in 2015, had also left.

In May, an international group of labor unions filed a complaint against McDonald's for what it called systematic sexual harassment at the fast food chain's restaurants around the world.

The complaint, filed with the Dutch national contact point for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was the first of its kind to target a multinational company, the International Union of Foodworkers said.

The document cites witness testimony of "attempted rape, indecent exposure, groping, and sexual offers."

McDonald's said at the time it would review the complaint, stressing that the food giant was a "people-first company."

Dutch gymnasts accuse coaches of physical and mental abuse

DutchNews, Sport July 27, 2020

The Dutch gymnastics team in Tokyo in 2011, including Joy Goedkoop. Photo:
Robin Utrecht via ANP

A second Dutch coach has been implicated in a widening scandal about the physical abuse of young gymnasts, following revelations made by local paper Noord Hollands Dagblad last week.

Former gymnast Joy Goedkoop has now come forward to say she was physically abused by her coach Vincent Wevers from the age of seven to 12 during training sessions. ‘It did not happen every day,’ Goedkoop told television programme Studio Sport. ‘But being made to feel small, anger and being ignored were daily occurrences,’ she said. 

Last week the NHD published a major report on physical and mental abuse in the world of gymnastics, based on conversations with 10 athletes aged between 18 and 41, several of whom took part in international competitions. 

They spoke about being dragged across the floor, screamed at and forced to climb ropes with bleeding hands in order to win medals. 

The paper also published an interview with coach Gerrit Beltman who admitted he had physically abused and belittled young gymnasts during his career and that he was not the only one to behave in this way. 

Sorry 

My behavior cannot be justified in any way,’ Beltman told the paper. ‘I wanted to win, whatever it cost… and I am now deeply sorry. It was never my intention to deliberately hit, swear or belittle. But it did happen. I thought it the only way to develop a top sport mentality. I blame myself for getting it wrong.’ 

Beltman also said that the Dutch gymnastics association KNGU was aware of what was going on but had failed to take action. 

The KNGU said in a statement on Sunday that it had been urging athletes to report abuse for some time. ‘We can only get to the bottom of what has happened through concrete reports,’ the KNGU said. ‘Every report will be followed up and investigated in depth, and that includes the claims made by Joy Goedkoop.’ 

Both Wevers and the Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF are preparing reactions, broadcaster NOS reported. 

Awards

Wevers is currently the trainer of gymnast twins Sanne and Lieke Wevers. Sanne Wevers won Olympic gold on the beam in 2016, the year in which her father was named sports coach of the year. 

Meanwhile, two other former gymnasts, Stasja Köhler and Simone Heitinga, who published a book about their experiences in 2013, have told the NRC that Beltman’s admission is too little and too late. 

Beltman has also worked in Belgium, Canada and Singapore.

Related Article:

Dutch gymnastics association suspends coaches pending abuse probe

Police sack more officers but number disciplined is stable

Dutchnews, May 14, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Last year 150 police officers in the Netherlands were sacked for dereliction of duty, up 30 on previous years, according to new police figures. 

In total, 309 police officers faced disciplinary measures, ranging from a formal reprimand to being sacked. 

Of them, 68 officers were disciplined for wrongful use of the police files, including both withholding and leaking information. ‘Although there were only a few cases, we need to keep focused on making sure information is used carefully,’ police integrity chief Lonneke Soudant said. 

In total, police started 530 disciplinary investigations into 499 officers last year, roughly in line with previous years. 

The police did not give further details about why officers were fired but in previous years the offences ranged from leaking information to theft and drunk driving and taking hard drugs. 

The police force, with a current workforce of some 60,000, is the biggest employer in the Netherlands.

KLM withdraws plan to boost CEO bonus to 100% of salary

DutchNews, April 18, 2020

Photo: DutchNews.nl

 Airline KLM has dropped plans to increase the bonus of chief executive Pieter Elbers to 100% of his salary following widespread opposition, Dutch media reported on Saturday. 

The move, aimed at drawing Elbers’ salary more into line with that of Air France’s CEO, was also criticised by the Dutch government, which has a 14% stake in the Air France-KLM combine. 

According to broadcaster NOS, the plan has now been withdrawn from the agenda from next week’s AGM, a move supported by both Elbers and KLM’s supervisory board. 

Maximum 

Elbers earns €525,000 a year plus a maximum bonus of up to 75% of that. KLM wants to increase that to 100%, in line with the situation at the French arm of the country and set the process in motion last year. 

KLM has already said no bonuses will be paid this year and there will be no profit sharing or dividends until after the crisis is over.

KLM, which has asked for support to pay its permanent staff, has already let 2,000 people on flexible contracts go, despite the government’s call to keep them on. 

Conditions 

A finance ministry spokesman told broadcaster NOS earlier on Saturday that any eventual state support for the airline, which has seen ticket sales collapse because of coronavirus, would involve conditions about wages and bonuses. 

The Dutch and French finance ministries are thought to be supportive of a bail-out for the airline so that it can meet its fixed costs, now almost the entire fleet has been grounded.

Related Article:

Air France-KLM boss confirms he won’t take a bonus this year

Man arrested for alleged €850,000 corona mask scam

DutchNews, April 8, 2020 

Criminals have been exploiting the high demand for masks. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Border police have arrested a man accused of selling two million medical face masks to China that were never delivered. 

The 49-year-old man from Purmerend agreed to sell €8 million of masks to ConectID and TKL Health DD, both based in Wuhan, in February. ConectID is owned by a British businessman and TKL Health by a Chinese Australian entrepeneur. 

The two companies paid €850,000 in advance to secure the delivery, but when the executives travelled to Amsterdam to view the goods nobody appeared to meet them. They were later directed to a business premises in Rotterdam that also proved to be empty. 

The owner of ConectID reported the fraud to police at Schiphol. Shortly afterwards he received an email from Purmerend asking him to withdraw his complaint and pay the outstanding amount in bitcoins. 

Police seached homes and business premises in the town on Wednesday morning and took away documents and materials for further analysis. 

‘This has high priority, especially at the moment,’ Dutch military police spokesman Robert van Kapel told NOS. ‘A person came to the Netherlands with good intentions to buy face masks in order to help people and prevent things becoming worse. Instead he was conned out of a huge sum. That is regrettable.’

Roche urged to share info with Dutch corona test labs: FTM

DutchNews, March 26, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche is unable to meet demand for coronavirus testing kits but is unwilling to share key information with labs to help them carry out mass testing, Dutch investigative website FollowThe Money said on Thursday. 

Most Dutch testing labs work with Roche equipment and depend on the Swiss firm for supplies. And due to special deals known as a ‘vendor lock-in’ they are not able to turn to alternative sources to stock up on essential items, FTM says. 

The Volkskrant reported earlier that most Dutch labs use Roche testing equipment and that the shortage of lysis buffer – a liquid used to break open cells – is one reason why the Netherlands is not carrying out mass testing. 

According to broadcaster NOS, Roche has 80% of the Dutch market. 

Commitment 

Roche told DutchNews.nl is a statement that it is committed to delivering as many tests as possible to areas where they can be most effective. However, to safeguard supply, the company said it strongly advised focusing testing on patients with symptoms, not with broad testing. 

‘Today, media in the Netherlands reported that Roche Netherlands is not providing enough test material to laboratories and asked Roche to publish the recipe for one reagent, called lysis buffer solution. We clearly state that this story is wrong,’ Roche said. 

‘There is no patent protection on lysis buffer itself. Roche will not guarantee safety and reliability of the quality and test results if the reagents required for the test are manufactured outside our own production network as well as those qualified production sites we are already working with. Safety and reliability of our components have been approved by regulatory authorities.’ 

Talks 

Meanwhile, health minister Hugo de Jonge has told parliament he is in talks with Roche about the recipe for making the liquid so that Dutch pharmacies can make it themselves and expand testing in the Netherlands. 

‘Talks are underway. We are doing all we can to get the formula,’ he said. 

The government has appointed Feike Sijbesma, the former chief executive of DSM, as its corona test expert. Sijbesma will focus on assessing and the availability of tests on the market and those being developed.

Jehovah’s Witness abuse victims unhappy at lack of care, report shows

DutchNews, January 24, 2020 - By Robin Pascoe

Photo: Depositphotos.com

A report by Utrecht University researchers into sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witness community in the Netherlands has found that most victims are unhappy at the way their complaints have been dealt with by the church. 

The researchers received 751 reports of abuse, ranging from incest to rape, of which 292 were made by the victims themselves. 

Just 25% of victims said they were satisfied at the way their complaints against the community had been handled and only 27% of cases were ever passed on to the police or other officials. 

Most of the reports related to abuse in the past, with just 32 covering the past 10 years. 

The Dutch branch went to court to try to stop the publication of the report but judges on Thursday ruled that it could be published in the public interest. 

The researchers were commissioned to write a report on behalf of the justice ministry, following claims that sexual abuse claims are hushed up and that victims received no help. 

After the first revelations were published by Trouw in 2017, hundreds of people came forward to report their own abuse stories. 

Justice minister Sander Dekker earlier called for the Jehovah’s Witnesses to set up their own independent inquiry, but the church declined. He then commissioned his own report, the first investigation of its kind ever undertaken into a religious community in the Netherlands. 

Action 

The minister has now criticised the board’s reaction, saying sect officials still deny that they need to take action. The board was shown the main conclusions last December. 

‘Rather than being open and acknowledging what has happened, the community tried to stop publication,’ Dekker said in a briefing to MPs. ‘The fact that so many vulnerable victims feel they are alone, and could not find their way to official help, affects me deeply.’ 

The board is still resisting pressure to set up an independent hotline, Dekker said. ‘I  now want to have a last, urgent meeting with the board to call on them to take over the report’s conclusions,’ he said. 

In their conclusions, the Utrecht researchers have also urged parliament to draft new legislation which would require religious communities to inform the police when they are told about cases of abuse. Dekker did not mention this option in his briefing.

Kimia Alizadeh: Iran's top female athlete defects

DW, 12 January 2020

Iran's only female Olympic medallist, Kimia Alizadeh, has said she has left the country permanently following accusations of mistreatment and sexism against officials. The 21-year-old is reportedly in the Netherlands.

Kimia Alizadeh | 2016 Rio Olympics - Taekwondo (Reuters/I. Kato)

Amid rising unrest in Iran following the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian plane and simmering tensions with the USA, Iran's only female Olympic medallist, Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she has defected.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the 21-year-old said she didn't want to be a part of "hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery" as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran".

"I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools," she added.

Alizadeh, who made history when she won bronze in Taekwondo at the Rio Olympics as an 18-year-old, is believed to be training in the Netherlands, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

She has claimed in the past that the Islamic Republic has used her as a propaganda tool and accused Iranian officials of sexism and mistreatment.

The ISNA agency reported that Alizadeh is hoping to still compete at the Tokyo Olympics later this year, but not under the Iranian flag.

Iranian students demonstrated following a tribute for victims of
Wednesday's plane crash (AFP Photo/Atta KENARE)

Related Article:

Iran agrees de-escalation 'only solution' to solve crisis with US

Suriname court convicts president of murder

DW, 30 November 2019

Suriname's President Desi Bouterse has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 1982 murder of 15 political opponents. The South American country is now on edge over what happens next.

Suriname President Desi Bouterse (Reuters/R. Abhelakh)

A military court in Suriname on Friday convicted President Desi Bouterse of murder for the execution of 15 opponents in 1982, plunging the South American country into political uncertainty.

Opposition parties called on Bouterse, who is on a state visit to China, to step down. He was expected to return home on Saturday or Sunday.

The 74-year-old leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the military court did not issue an arrest warrant. Under Surinamese law, he cannot be arrested until all appeals have been exhausted.

After the court decision, the government asked Suriname's 560,000 people to remain calm.

Who is Bouterse?

As a junior military officer, Bouterse seized power in a coup in 1980, five years after Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands. He stepped down in 1987 under international pressure in a move that led to a democratic election, only to briefly seize power again in 1990.

He later left the army and took office again in 2010, following democratic elections won by his National Democratic Party (NDP). He secured a second term in 2015.

What did the court find? 

The court ruled that Bouterse had overseen what is known as the "December killings," in which soldiers abducted 16 opponents, among them prominent journalists, academics and military officers.

All but one of the detainees was killed at a colonial fortress in the capital Paramaribo. The sole survivor — a union later — testified against Bouterse.

What led up to decision?

The court decision marks a turning point in a trail that began in 2007, when Bouterse accepted "political responsibility'' for the killings but insisted he was not present.

Bouterse and the NDP have repeatedly sought to obstruct the trial. Shortly after taking office in 2010, the NDP-controlled National Assembly granted him amnesty that was overturned by the constitutional court.

Then in 2016, the president asked the attorney general to halt the legal proceedings against him, but the court ruled against the move because the trial had already started.

Calls to implement law

Angelic del Castillo, head of the opposition Democratic Alternative '91 party, said Bouterse had "disqualified himself" and demanded he immediately resign.

In a joint statement, the diplomatic missions of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States called on the final verdict in the killings to be "implemented and upheld in accordance with the rule of law."

"The integrity and independence of the Judiciary is a pillar in Suriname society," they said.

Drug trafficking

In 2009, a Dutch court sentenced Bouterse to 11 years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking. However, his 2010 election victory protected him from being extradited under an Interpol warrant.

In 2015, his son, Dino Bouterse, was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison in the United States after being convicted of drug smuggling and trying to help the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah establish a base in Suriname. He had previously been picked to run Suriname's counter-terrorism unit.

A Suriname judge in 2005 convicted Dino of trafficking arms, drugs and running a gang.

Aid group calls on pension funds to ditch dubious arms investments

DutchNews, November 28, 2019

Photo: zeferli@gmail.com via Depositphotos.com

Nine of the biggest Dutch pension funds are investing in companies which supply weapons to regimes that violate human rights, according to research by Dutch aid group Pax

Pax says the funds invest more than €1bn in dubious weapons manufacturers, with civil service giant ABP plus health fund PFZW and engineering fund PME accounting for €927m of the total. 

The findings come from a new study by the Fair Pension Guide. 

‘Some of most Dutch people’s retirement money is invested in arms companies that, for instance, keep Saudi Arabia’s jet fighters in the air,’ PAX spokesman Cor Oudes said in a statement. ‘These planes drop bombs that kill and maim civilians in Yemen.’ 

The study looks at the largest companies supplying weapons to around 50 countries either currently involved in an armed conflict or which violate human rights. 

Aircraft engines 

Of the 14 companies supplying weapons to countries with poor human rights records, United Technologies Corporation and General Electric have the most Dutch pension fund investment. 

Both companies provide and maintain aircraft engines for the air forces of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Pax says. 

The organisation says pension funds should develop good arms trade policies and urges funds to encourage these arms manufacturers to stop selling arms to dubious regimes. 

‘If the manufacturers fail to take action, pension funds should exclude these companies from their investments,’ Pax said. 

Last year, civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest pension funds in world, said it is phasing out all investments in tobacco and nuclear weapons.

Ex-model accuses French Epstein associate of rape

Yahoo – AFP, September 7, 2019

A former Dutch model who accuses French modelling agent Jean-Luc
Brunel of rape says women and girls were abused in Epstein's appartment
near Paris's Champs-Elysees (AFP Photo/JACQUES DEMARTHON)

Paris (AFP) - A former model has accused a modelling agent close to US sex crimes suspect Jeffrey Epstein of raping her in 1990, as France pursues its own investigation into alleged offences on its territory.

In a letter sent to Paris Prosecutor Remi Heitz seen by AFP on Saturday, a 46-year-old Dutch woman says Jean-Luc Brunel drugged and raped her at his Paris appartment in the early 1990s, shortly after she turned 18.

French prosecutors opened an inquiry last month into suspected sex trafficking and alleged cases of rape and sexual abuse of women, including minors.

Brunel has emerged as a key figure in the scandal surrounding the US billionaire, who committed suicide in a New York jail last month.

Brunel has been accused in court documents of rape and of procuring young girls for Epstein, charges he has denied in the past.

But since Epstein's arrest in July -- just as he returned from a trip to Paris -- Brunel, formerly a high-power model scout, has not been heard from publicly.

In her letter, the former Dutch model said several girls lived in Brunel's apartment near the Champs-Elysees, where every day "rich businessmen were accompanied by very young girls."

"The events are beyond the statute of limitations, and my client knows this will not lead to charges against Mr Brunel," the woman's lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune, told AFP.

"But she wanted to testify anyway, to help the inquiry move forward," she said.

It is also investigating claims that Epstein and others participated for years in a vast child sex-trafficking ring.

A French advocacy group for child sex abuse victims, Innocence En Danger (Innocence at Risk), has said 10 people had offered witness statements alleging sex crimes committed against minors in France.

According to the Parisian newspaper, Paris police last week questioned two other women who said they had been sexually assaulted by Brunel. These alleged offences happened too long ago for prosecution.

Four years ago, Brunel was accused in a civil lawsuit of rape and procuring young girls for the US financier.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who filed the suit, accused Epstein of using her as a "sex slave". She said she had been forced to have sex with well-known politicians and businessmen, including Brunel.

She also alleged that Brunel would bring girls as young as 12 to the United States and pass them on to his friends, including Epstein. Brunel fiercely denied the allegations.

Related Article:

Thysia Huisman describes alleged rape by Jean-Luc Brunel

Uyghurs in the Netherlands call on Dutch gov to defend their rights

DutchNews, August 15, 2019

Uyghur people demonstrate in front of the UN. Photo: SFT HQ via Wikimedia
Commons

A group of Dutch Uyghurs have lodged a formal protest against the Chinese government to highlight the plight of their people and Chinese intimidation in the Netherlands, broadcaster NOS reports. 

The Uyghurs, some 1,500 of whom are currently living in the Netherlands, are an ethnic minority people concentrated in the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang. 

Human rights organisations say around one million Uyghurs are currently being detained in camps where they are being tortured and brainwashed. The Chinese government describes them as ‘rehabilitation camps’ aimed at rooting out terrorism. 

The Netherlands, along with 22 other countries, last month asked the Chinese government stop detaining Uyghurs but more needs to be done, the Uyghurs in the Netherlands said. 

The Uyghurs rarely speak out because they fear their relatives in China will suffer the consequences, NOS said. But after a number of Uyghurs in the Netherlands received intimidating phone calls from Chinese officials, they have demanded the government take action. 

Esa Sawut, who supports the protest, and who is involved in the ‘Europa East Turkestan educational centre’ said he was told by a Chinese official to stop his activities immediately or five of his family members would be arrested. 

‘I hope the Netherlands, via diplomatic channels, will talk about the situation to the Chinese government, or at least find out about what has happened to our relatives,’ Sawut told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur.

Amsterdam judges get tough on violent crime, impose higher sentences

DutchNews, August 10, 2019 

Amsterdam judges have reached an agreement to impose higher sentences on people found guilty of weapons offences, the AD said on Saturday. 

The aim, the paper said, is to make a statement following a spate of violent incidents in the Dutch capital. 

‘There have been a lot of stabbings and killings in the city and people are more willing to use hand grenades,’ spokesman Domien Huijbregts told the paper. ‘That is why we want to give a clear signal. This is completely unacceptable.’ 

Sentences for gun, knife or grenade crime in the Dutch capital can be four times as high as in other parts of country, the paper said. This means someone caught with a pistol would be jailed for 12 months, while the recommended sentence is three months. 

‘Amsterdam judges are able to go their own way in this,’ a spokesman for the Council for the Judiciary told the AD. ‘They are completely independent.’