The current crackdown on free speech is occurring simultaneously virtually everywhere in the Western world. The following example is from The Netherlands, but similar instances could be adduced from other countries. The worst offenders are probably Canada and the UK, but it’s hard to say for sure.
As Al Stewart sang (in “Rain Barrel”):
It’s only when the empire’s breaking
That you see their teeth.
Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from the Dutch news platform NieuwRechts.nl:
Raisa Blommestijn criminally prosecuted due to her tweets
March 24, 2024
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a criminal prosecution against the legal commentator Raisa Blommestijn. The reason for this is her comments on social media from last year. “This is indicative of the state of the West,” Blommestijn wrote on X.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office filed the prosecution last year due to Blommestijn’s tweets about migrant violence. This was confirmed by the legal commentator herself on X after an earlier report by the opinion maker Ashley St. Clair.
Violent video at Bijimar Arena Station
The reason for this is the tweets that Blommestijn wrote after a violent video went viral last year. In the video, an Italian tourist at the Bijimar Station was beaten and thrown onto the tracks by a group of youths with a migration background. The images went all over the Internet.
Blommestijn devoted a number of reports to it on X (formerly Twitter). “Every day, people are raped, beaten, intimidated, and slaughtered by migrants. The elite have opened the borders and deliberately forfeited our safety. Our home destroyed. And we let it happen. We let it happen. When is enough enough?” wrote the legal commentator, among other things.
For years, people with a migration background have been overrepresented in crime statistics. Not just in the Netherlands, but also in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Sweden. meanwhile, the Hungarian capital, Budapest, where there is hardly any mass immigration, is considered the safest place in continental Europe.
“Negroid primates”
Shortly afterward, the Forum for Democracy MP Gideon van Meijeren denounced the violent incident in the Tweede Kamer [House of Representatives]. Here he used the term “Negroid primates” to describe the rioters at the station. A ruckus arose over this terminology, to the dissatisfaction of Van Meijeren. He did not think it was racist, but a factual designation: “Primates” referring to the primitive behavior of the youths, “Negroid” referring to their skin color.
To show support, Blommestijn decided to use his terminology in her tweets. But a few months later, she noticed that her tweets were deleted because she was reportedly in conflict with Dutch law. Therefore, the legal commentator decided to repost the tweets, in her words, “to show how far censorship now goes”.
Criminal prosecution
For the Public Prosecutor’s Office, this was a step too far. In August, Blommestijn received a telephone call saying that a criminal prosecution was being filed against her on suspicion of insulting a group of people and provoking hate and discrimination (Article 137c of the Criminal Code).