‘Detainee in Arnhem cell was not allowed to call his grandmother in Frisian’

This concerns a resident of the Frisian town of De Westereen, near Dokkum, who was put under greater scrutiny in Arnhem, reports Omrop Fryslan. He is said to have called unknown numbers for too long, after which his phone conversations were monitored.

Demented Beppe

He was no longer allowed to have conversations in Frisian from prison. One of the people he wanted to call in his native language was demented beppe (grandmother).

“You don’t ask a Dutch prisoner to speak English to his grandmother, even if they can both do it well,” MP D66 Jan Paternotte told Omrop Fryslân. “Dutch and Frisian are co-national languages same, so you should treat them as such.”

Paternette wants clarification from the Minister of the Interior Judith Uitermark about the matter.

Previous problems too

This is not the first time that conversations in Frisian have caused an uproar. ING banned a Frisian customer service worker earlier this year to call a customer in Frisian. The conversation could be recorded and the people who would listen to it only speak Dutch and English, the bank said.

ING later changed its policy. Frisian-speaking employees are now allowed to speak Frisian to customers.

Frisian and Dutch are the official languages ​​in the province of Friesland, as can be read on the government’s website. “Frisian citizens have the right to use their own language (Dutch or Frisian).