Today the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant published an opinion piece by lawyer Barbara van Straaten. In it, she gives her view on the lax attitude of i.a. Justice Minister Van Weel, following the online intimidation of an Amsterdam judge who allowed the arrival of three Islamic speakers. Among other things, she states that it is wrong that Van Weel takes no responsibility at all for his own role in this matter.
Read the opinion piece here (in Dutch): 'De rechtsstaat verdient meer dan justitieminister Van Weel'
Background
On 20 February 2025, the Amsterdam Court put an end to the entry bans of three Islamic preachers who were set to speak at the Ramadan Expo in Utrecht last weekend. In the (preliminary) view of the judge, Dutch ministers Faber (Asylum and Migration) and Van Weel (Justice and Security) who were responsible for issuing the travel bans, had provided insufficient reasoning as to why the arrival of the three speakers would pose a threat to the public order. Van Straaten explains, i.a. that this is ‘a very common ruling in administrative law, which does not provide any substantive judgment on the (un)desirability of the decision to refuse entry to these people’. Following the court ruling however, an online hate campaign was unleashed against the judge, in the context of which his partner and employer were also named and private information was shared (the latter is called ‘doxing’, and is a criminal offense in the Netherlands since 1 January 2024). Matters reached such a (low) point that the Amsterdam district court filed a criminal complaint on Monday.
Further reading (in Dutch)
- Rechtbank Den Haag 20 februari 2025, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2025:2566, par. 8.3 onwards (and -2567 en -2568)
- L. Reijmer, 'Rechter online belaagd om uitspraak predikers, rechtbank doet aangifte', Volkskrant, 25 February 2025
- 'Rechtbank Amsterdam doet aangifte na intimidatie rechter op sociale media', NOS, 25 February 2025