Threatened OMT member Marion Koopmans calls on justice: make ‘real work’ in 2022 in tackling online threats

Koopmans concluded her message on Twitter with an appeal to the Public Prosecution Service to make ‘real work’ of these types of online threats in the next calendar year. A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service says that he has ‘seen’ that call. Later in the day, the Public Prosecution Service wants to respond more extensively to the threat to Koopmans’ address.

Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, scientists and politicians have been threatened online more often. For example, the Team Threatened Politicians of the The Hague police unit received a total of six hundred reports of a possible threat in 2020, more than 50 percent more than a year earlier. In 274 cases, the Public Prosecution Service concluded that there was indeed a threat.

Sigrid Kaag

Politicians have also recently shown the outside world which messages they find in their digital mailboxes. D66 leader Sigrid Kaag shared some pictures of ominous christmas cards which she received at home. “As you can see, we know where you live.” Member of Parliament Tunahan Kuzu (Denk) placed a screenshot on Twitter of a message in which his party leader Farid Azarkan in particular had to suffer.

In addition, members of the Health Council receive daily e-mails stating that they have been nominated for a prize named after the NSB founder Anton Mussert ‘for the greatest criminal experiment on humans in history’.

Not only has the number of reports of threats increased, the number of cases handled by the courts has also increased. In 2019, the judge considered a threat case fifteen times, and 43 times a year later. In June of this year, the police judge in The Hague sentenced a conspiracy theorist to nine months in prison, three of which were conditional, for example for incitement against RIVM director Jaap van Dissel. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the increased number of lawsuits is the result of ‘tightened policy’.

Fine

In criminal cases in which threats play a role, the Public Prosecution Service follows its ‘guideline for criminal proceedings’. Anyone who makes a written threat for the first time – Twitter messages fall into this category – can count on a fine of 400 euros as a penalty. In case of recidivism, the amount increases, followed by a community service of up to 48 hours or even an unconditional prison sentence of one month.

A significant proportion of the threats come from minors. The Public Prosecution Service applies a lower sentence for them. In the event of a threat via the internet, the Public Prosecution Service usually asks the judge to impose a fine of EUR 100 or a community service order of 20 hours.