mon 14 jan 2008 12:37:46 — witte de withstraat
toch niet?
further report in het parool from an hour ago:
• the 11 arrested anti-wilders demonstrators have filed a complaint against the amsterdam police.
• the police say the amsterdam justitie made them do it.
• burgermeester cohen isn't happy about it either.
• on saturday at the dappermarkt, the police warned the demonstrators that geert wilders had already filed a complaint about the poster. on sunday they came back with a different story, that under article 267 of the penal lawbook the spreading of these posters constituted "belediging van het openbaar gezag". which i think means insult to public law, but i'll have to ask around.
• geert wilders went on record saying he also thinks the arrests were unnecessary.
• observers in the news are reminded of the time in late 2005 when banners insulting rita verdonk were removed by police, whereas later the judge found that the banners were legal.
so this would intimate that the local department of justice is ordering preemptive squelching of expression, before a judge has had a chance to rule on it. somehow that seems bassackwards to me. shouldn't a judge rule that an expression is illegal *before* the police are sent to stop it? how does the DA get to decide this alone?
and meanwhile, where *is* this DA, this person from the openbaar ministerie who supposedly ordered the police to go arrest demonstrators? why hasn't he or she stood up in public to explain why it was necessary?
hmmm.
now i have to go get my hair cut at cut the crap.