20 Are Convicted for Sexist and Racist Abuse of Dutch Politician
By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZEMAY 18, 2017
THE HAGUE — A Dutch court on Thursday convicted 20 people of sexist and racist online hate speech directed against a black politician and media personality, in a case
that many here saw as an indictment of the ostensible culture of tolerance in the Netherlands.
"But when this opinion is an insult, threat, riot or discrimination, there is a criminal offense." The court added
that it hoped the sentences would have a "deterring effect." Ms. Simons, 46, was born in Suriname and raised in the Netherlands, where she gained prominence as a television and radio presenter.
One defendant, who received 80 hours of community service, the day’s harshest sentence, was accused
of digitally adding Ms. Simons’s face to a video of Ku Klux Klan members lynching people.
Ms. Simons said she had also been targeted after attending a demonstration against Black Pete, a contentious Dutch Christmas
tradition in which Saint Nicholas is attended by a black servant, and which involves children wearing blackface.
Simons said that To me, this statement marks the end of an intense period, but I hope that this is the beginning of a social debate,
