Yahoo – AFP,
Nicolas Delaunay, 9 May 2015
 |
A decision
to drag a Dutch activist before a judge for insulting King Willem-Alexander
has
sparked outrage in liberal-minded Netherlands and prompted prosecutors to
re-evaluate the case based on a century-old law (AFP Photo/Michael Kooren)
|
The Hague
(AFP) - A decision to drag a Dutch activist before a judge for insulting King
Willem-Alexander has sparked outrage in liberal-minded Netherlands and prompted
prosecutors to re-evaluate the case based on a century-old law.
Abulkasim
al-Jaberi was arrested in November when television cameras showed him spouting
a stream of profanity aimed at the king, Queen Maxima and the royal house.
Al-Jaberi
was part of a demonstration in Amsterdam against the Dutch "Black
Pete" children's figure, which opponents say is a racist throwback.
Al-Jaberi,
a well-known critic of the black-faced sidekick that appears at the traditional
gift-giving festival of Saint Nicholas, was handed a 500 euro ($568) fine
afterwards. He refused to pay.
Prosecutors
said Wednesday the activist would face trial based on a
"lese-majeste" or "injured monarch" law harking back to
1881, which makes deliberately insulting the king or royal house punishable
with a prison sentence of up to five years or a 20,000 euro fine.
The
announcement sparked instant outrage in liberal Netherlands, which sees freedom
of speech as a fundamental cornerstone.
An unknown
person spray-painted Al-Jaberi's words on the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, while
Twitter saw a stream of similar expletives being tweeted.
Online, in
newspapers and even in parliament many denounced the lese-majeste law as
archaic and hardly in tune with modern-day rights.
Prosecutors
announced Thursday they were withdrawing the summons for Al-Jaberi's appearance
in an Amsterdam court on May 27 "for further investigation," but the
charge itself has not been dropped.
"The
issue of freedom of expression is sensitive in the Netherlands. It's a very
important fundamental right," Stef Ketelaar, a lawyer and historian who studied
the lese-majeste laws told AFP.
'Right to
demonstrate'
 |
People
protest against the tradition of
'Zwarte Piet' or "Black Pete" -- the
black-
faced companion of Sinterklaas or
Sain Nicholas -- in Amsterdam, on
November 16, 2014 (AFP Photo/
Evert Elzinga)
|
"What
justifies punishing somebody who insults the king or queen and how is that
different from insulting ordinary citizens or groups?" asked D66.
Amsterdam's
open-minded mayor Eberhard van der Laan said he "laughed" when he
heard of the summons and described the law as outdated.
"I
know the king a little and I think he sees it more democratically than the law
itself does," Van der Laan told Het Parool newspaper.
Prosecutors
pulled the summons after Al-Jaberi's lawyer filed an objection amid an public
avalanche of outrage.
"I was
surprised by the emotional reaction," Amsterdam Prosecutor's Office
representative Willem Nijkerk told daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad.
"We
didn't see this coming," Nijkerk added.
Prosecution
in the Netherlands for insulting the royals is rare and they are often
satirised in television shows and on stage.
Prosecutors
say the context in which insults are uttered plays an important role.
"There
are cases where freedom of speech prevails, for instance for comedians or those
involved in public debate," prosecution spokesman Franklin Wattimena told
AFP.
In
Al-Jaberi's case prosecutors believe his abuse against the royals had nothing
to do with the anti-Black Pete protest.
AL-Jaberi's
lawyer Willem Jebbink, however, argues the opposite, saying his client
"made a comparison between Black Pete and our slave history... and
attributed it to the royal house".
Elsewhere
in Europe, lese-majeste laws also apply for instance in Spain, Monaco and
Sweden. Britain too has lese-majeste laws but has not applied them for more
than a century, Dutch media reports said.
In
Thailand, a man was jailed last month for two years for selling books that
allegedly defamed the monarchy, the latest in a string of convictions under a
similar law.
.
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