News from Amsterdam


To the front page

11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

 

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

 

 

 

 

Lese majesty in Amsterdam

15 August 2007 - The inclusion of social anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis in the hero worship exhibition at de Nieuwe Kerk can be understood as an unintended comment on the recent lese majesty controversy in Amsterdam.

Amsterdammer Domela Nieuwenhuis was thrown in jail for lese majesty in 1887, because his magazine had published an article saying that King William III was not doing such a terrific job.

Recently, a 47-year old man was fined 400 euro for calling the queen a whore, insulting a bicycle policeman and refusing to leave the area when ordered to do so. When detained, he had also given a Hitler salute. According to the court, the defendant was not protected by the right to free speech, because he did not express an opinion but merely his frustration.

It was the first time for someone to be convicted for lese majesty in 38 years. While charging him might be interpreted as a renewed effort to protect the queen, it should more likely be understood as part of a zero tolerance policy aimed at chasing homeless people and drug addicts from certain parts of the inner city.

In June, AT5 reported that police fine drug addicts for offences such as ‘sitting on a monument’ and ‘sleeping outdoors’. Apparently, lese majesty is yet another tool to discourage them.

In response to the lese majesty charge, a 17-year old journalist of the Spunk internet magazine went to Dam Square to ask people which of two t-shirts they found more offensive: one saying ‘[Queen] Beatrix is a whore’, or one saying ‘All Muslims are goat-fuckers’.

The journalist and her cameraman were arrested by various motorcycle and plain clothes policemen. However, the Public Prosecutor (OM) announced that they will not be prosecuted. While the t-shirts were offensive, they were intended to fuel a public debate on the limits of free speech, and therefore not punishable, the OM stated.

When preparing the hero worship exhibition at de Nieuwe Kerk, the organisers could not know yet that lese majesty would become such a hot issue again. The section on Domela Nieuwenhuis focuses not on why he went to jail, but on how he was ridiculed by contemporaries for his vanity.

Illustration: Domela Nieuwenhuis statue near Westerpark, photo Ruud Zwart / Wikipedia. Nieuwe Kerk exhibition, more on Domela Nieuwenhuis, lese majesty verdict, AT5 on zero tolerance, Spunk behind bars (includes video of arrest), OM on not prosecuting Spunk journalists (most in Dutch)

 

Want to receive News from Amsterdam? Click here


This is the old website. Please find new content here