Lese Majesty And Other Insults to Queen Beatrix

[anirac]

The judiciary of Amsterdam go to law with a 47year old man, who insult the Queen. He said towards the police: "I hate your Queen. The Queen of the Netherlands is whore." And then he told about the things he would do with her (in sexual sense). The man is going to accuse of lèse-majesté.


P.S. It is not Hans Teeuwen

[lucien]

Originally Posted by anirac

Oh My GOD!!!


By the way:

The judiciary of Amsterdam go to law with a 47year old man, who insult the Queen. He said towards the police: "I hate your Queen. The Queen of the Netherlands is whore." And then he told about the things he would do with her (in sexual sense). The man is going to accuse of lèse-majesté.


P.S. It is not Hans Teeuwen

Instead of the maximum of 5 years imprisonement and a 12.000 euro fine,he got away with 7 days imprisonement and a 400 euro fine.

The first time in many many years someone was convicted in a case of lèse-majesté.

And,no,it wasn't Hans Teeuwen,as the smuck said;"Your Queen" it must be a foreigner,or one that benefits from what he has here and forgets to be gratefull,anyway,they didn't even release so much as initials of the guy,it might prompt people to utter politically incorrect remarks towards a certain branch of inhabitants.

[Henri M.]

There have been quite a number of penalties in the latest years. The Judges are less soft then they were in the decades before. It fits in the general increase of toughness on crime in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands Penal Code you can find three articles on crimen læsæ Maiestatis:

Article 111:
Intentional insulting of The King is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 5 years and/or a monetary fine of the fourth category.

Article 112:
Intentional insulting of the spouse of The King, the Heir Apparent and the spouse of the Heir Apparent is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 4 years and/or a monetary fine of the fourth category.

Article 113:
He who openly distributes written or imagined contents in which an insult is made of The King, the spouse of The King, the Heir Apparent, the spouse of the Heir Apparent or the Regent, or has these in stock and is aware of the insulting content of it, is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 1 year and/or a monetary fine of the third category.

[Marengo]

I believe the man is from Surinam. Apart from insulting the Queen he made rascist remarks about white people in general. I believe the man was drunk and/or on Drugs, rather sad.
The fine of 400 euros is absolutely rediculous, the guy had to be dragged to court, so IMHO he should at least cover those expenses. Like this I think the lese-majesty is just a hollow phrase, which is best abolished as it clearly is not enforced.

[Marengo]

From DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English:

--
Young reporter arrested for insulting queen

Wednesday 01 August 2007
A 17-year old journalist and a cameraman from internet magazine Spunk were arrested on Dam square in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening, on charges of insulting queen Beatrix.
--

read the entire of the article here.

[BeatrixFan]

Anyone from a magazine of that name was bound to be trouble.

[Marengo]

It actually a website, Spunk, they organised several parties in Amsterdam, a bit underground/artsy. I believe the son of Mathijs van Nieuwkerk (the man who recently interviewed Princess Mabel) is one of the editors at the moment.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Marengo

From DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English:

--
Young reporter arrested for insulting queen

Wednesday 01 August 2007
A 17-year old journalist and a cameraman from internet magazine Spunk were arrested on Dam square in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening, on charges of insulting queen Beatrix.
--

read the entire of the article here.

Lucky people I didn't see them first.Honestly,very lucky indeed.

[susan alicia]

nu.nl/algemeen | 'Hogere straf majesteitsschennis onaanvaardbaar'

constitutional law expert Peter Rehwinkel has opened a discussion about the difference in punishment between insulting the queen and a civilian. Two people have recently been arrested for calling Beatrix a whore and another for wearing a simular message on her tshirt. For insulting the queen the punishment is max 5 years and for insulting a civilian between 2 months and max 2 years.

[Henri M.]

The majority in the Second Chamber of the States-General does not want to change the present articles in the Netherlands Penal Code on Crimen læsæ Majestatis.

Mr. Peter Rehwinkel, a prominent juridician and expert on the monarchy has asked in an opinion why crimes or insults against The King should be punished more than crimes against others? Of course he rejects any insult against Queen Beatrix, but asks himself if it is wise to keep that difference in penalties.?

Also the spouse of The King, the Heir Apparent, the spouse of the Heir Apparent and the Regent are protected by the articles on Crimen læsæ Majestatis.

Reason for the biggest party in the Chamber (the Christian Democrats) to block any change to these articles: "It is not about insulting a Mrs. Van Oranje-Nassau. It is about insulting the Head of State. Symbol for everything the Netherlands wants to be: a decent country where people treat each other with respect."

Reason for the biggest party in the opposition (Socialistic Party), to have understanding for the difference in penalty when the Queen is insulted: due to the ministerial responsiblity The Queen can not defend herself. Senator Van Raak (Socialistic Party) adds to this: "Of course it would be better when The Queen herself is no part of the Government. Then we have solved the problem as well."

In the Netherlands, in contrary to most other monarchies, The Queen is an integral part of the Government. She does not stand above it. She is in it:

Constutution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Section 2
The King and the Ministers

Article 42

(1) The Government shall comprise of The King and the Ministers.

(2) The King is inviolable. The ministers are responsible.

[Marengo]

In Dordrecht a 45 y/o man has been convicted to 4 months in prison for insulting the Queen. The man was not convicted for threatening the Queen. He said that he would put a bullit in the Queens head, but as the man was drunk at the time of the remark the court did not find it a 'realistic' threat.

Note that he also insulted & threatened the police and members of the the salvation army, which is probably the main reason for the 4 months emprisonment.