The Netherlands’ Public Prosecution Service aims to impose a 40-hour community service order against right-wing TV presenter and lawyer Raisa Blommestijn on charges of group insult and defamation for a tweet she wrote last May, it announced on Thursday November 21st.
In her court statement, Blommestijn said her case reflects a larger problem in Dutch society. She said many citizens who want to express their opinions face censorship, job loss and social exclusion. “What happened to me happens to many others,” she said. Blommestijn hopes her fight will inspire others to speak out, despite the risks.
Taking to X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, the well-known Dutch commentator wrote,
It became clear again in the courtroom: the Public Prosecution Service has opened a witch hunt against politicians, opinion makers and citizens on the Right.
The formal charges are those of ‘group insult and defamation.’ Blommestijn and her supporters assert that she is being prosecuted for online criticism of mass immigration. Specifically, she commented on viral footage showing a migrant gang beating a defenceless white male before throwing him onto the train tracks. Writing on X, she raged:
Yet another white man beaten up on the street by a group of Negroid primates. How many more defenceless whites must become victims? Probably countless: the open borders elite imports these people in droves, with all the consequences that entails.
Commenting on her subsequent legal troubles, Blommestijn claimed “For the prosecution, not this heinous act but my comments on it were reason enough to prosecute me… and you could be next.”
According to the Public Prosecution Service, Blommestijn has far exceeded freedom of expression with her messages. The public prosecutor emphasised that such statements contribute to the dehumanisation of population groups and the fueling of tensions in society. “It is unacceptable to stigmatise population groups in this way and to publicly damage individuals,” the officer said.
The Dutch ‘liberal’-Left is cheering on the prosecution, with the BNNVARA website—tagline: “A fair, equal Netherlands. We are in favour. You too?”—calling the Ongehoord Nederland (ON!) TV presenter a racist hate monger, far-right propagandist, and conspiracy theorist.
The difficulty that the Raisa Blommestijn case should pose is that the right to free speech is indivisible, even for the speech one hates.
