Netherlands / Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch / Case no. 17/05728

Country

Netherlands

Title

Netherlands / Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch / Case no. 17/05728

View full Case

Year

2017

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Incident(s) concerned/related

Other forms of hate speech

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Netherlands / Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch

Key facts of the case

A Christian preacher with the American nationality made in public in the centre of the city of Eindhoven several anti-Muslims statements like "Moslims are bad”, “Moslims are terrorists” and “All Moslims will go to hell”. The Court of Appeal convicted her for group insult for making the statement “Moslims are terrorists” under article 137c of the Dutch Criminal Code. In the eyes of the Court, this statement by the preacher was insulting of Muslims and did not contribute to any public debate or were not connected to any artistic expression. The statement "Moslims are bad”, and “All Moslims will go to hell” are in the eyes of the Court not punishable under article 137c. of the Criminal Code because these statements do no from the perspective of the religious beliefs of the defendant do not constitute an insult.

Main reasoning/argumentation

Making the statement "Moslims are terrorists" in public a Christian preacher insulted Muslims and is punishable under article 137c which criminalizes group insult.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

The statement "Muslims are terrorists" made in public insults Muslims and does not contrubute in any way to a public debate and cannot be seen as an expression of a belief or a artistic intentions. So it is criminal under article 137c of the Dutch Criminal Code.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

A Christian preacher who made the statement "Muslims are terrorists" in public was condemed under Dutch criminal law to pay a conditional fine of €350.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Het hof is van oordeel dat de uitlating van de verdachte “ Moslims are terrorists" op zichzelf beschouwd beledigend is voor moslims, in aanmerking genomen dat zij de strekking hebben moslims bij het publiek in een kwaad daglicht te stellen en hen als groep te treffen. De context van de uitlatingen: De vraag of deze uitlating van de verdachte dienstig was of bijdroeg aan enig maatschappelijk debat dan wel is gedaan in verband met een geloofsopvatting of een artistieke expressie inhoudt, moet naar het oordeel van het hof ontkennend worden beantwoord."

"The Court is of the opinion that the statement "Muslims are terrorists" of the defendant is in itself insulting to Muslims, considering that this statement intends to put Muslims in a bad light and to hurt Muslims as a group. The context of the statement: The question whether the statement by the defendant was relevant or contributed in any way to a social debate or whether it was made in connection with a belief or an artistic expression, must in the opinion of the court be answered in the negative."
The Netherlands, Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch (Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch) (2017), Case no.17/05728 , 22 November 2017.

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