For, among other things, projecting racist slogans on City Hall Eindhoven, two men were sentenced to six months in prison on Tuesday. This became clear on Tuesday morning in the court of Rotterdam. There, the two also had to answer for similar projections on Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam.
In February 2023, during Carnival, texts such as ‘Houd Lampegat blank‘ (‘keep Lampegat (Eindhoven) white’) and ‘Alaaf namens Blank Nederland‘ (‘hello on behalf of white Netherlands’) appeared on City Hall in Eindhoven. Not much later, on 24 February last year, 26-year-old John A. from Zwijndrecht in the province of Zuid-Holland (south Holland) and 36-year-old Daniil S. from Landgraaf in the province of Limburg were arrested for this. They were detained for some time and were then released by the court, pending their trial.
The two stayed away from the courtroom on Tuesday and had their interests represented by a lawyer. The court regretted that. During police interrogations, both remained silent. They would only make a statement during the trial. One is now said to be afraid of media attention, the other could not get time off from work, their lawyers stated.
Multiple projections
In addition to the projections on Eindhoven City Hall, both men are also suspected of projecting similar racist slogans on Erasmus Bridge during New Year’s Eve in 2022 and 2023. They are also said to have placed a projection on Alkmaar City Hall in January 2023.
Texts such as ‘White lives matter’ and ‘we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’ were projected on Erasmus Bridge.
Incitement to discrimination
According to Openbaar Ministerie (OM, public prosecution service), the actions amount to group insult and incitement to discrimination. The suspects are also guilty of making discriminatory statements public, which is punishable separately. “Nasty facts”, is how the public prosecutor summarised the suspicions.
With their actions, A. and S. “insulted a large group of people to the core of their being”, the officer stated. She pointed out that many people were confronted with the projected texts: “More than a million people watched TV”. The projections did not lead to reports; OM still found it necessary to investigate and prosecute: “To give a voice to people of colour who are confronted with these projections. They make people anxious and angry”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
