Police chief Frank Paauw furious about inflammatory texts of youth club BIJ1: ‘Gross insult’ | Inland

“Do you like to defend oppressors? Do you get your self-worth from power? Get rid of your racism with impunity? Do you beat up people you don’t understand? Then we are looking for you !! To maintain our system! ”, Can be read on the Instagram page of Radicaal. “Now with 300 euros net bonus!”, Referring to the corona bonus recently announced by Minister of Justice Ferd Grapperhaus for police personnel.

‘Sad and Pathetic’

“Very sad and pathetic,” snarls Koen Simmers, department chair of the Dutch Police Union. “This does not do justice to the police in the Netherlands and what police officers are currently doing.”

Duty letter

The youth branch of BIJ1, which has only one seat on the Amsterdam city council, was previously discredited after a similar tweet about Defense. In it, Minister Ank Bijleveld was accused of “recruiting 17-year-old girls for the defense killing machine, following the letter of conscription for girls.” Bijleveld did not like it: “Defense ensures our peace and security, so that BIJ1 is also free to say these kinds of bizarre things,” the minister wrote on Twitter. Lawyer and reservist Sébas Diekstra filed a complaint against Radicaal because of the inciting tweet.

‘Scandalous’

“That was also scandalous,” says Simmers. “They insult the people who stand for the security and freedom of the Netherlands enormously. Freedom of speech is a great asset, and some hurtful things may also be said there, but in my view this is very radical and goes way too far. ”

Maarten Brink of the ACP police union is also furious. “If you see things like this, then of course you are very shocked. This is simply not acceptable. Fortunately, you see that socially people also oppose this. ”

Frank Paauw

On Sunday evening, Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw also expressed his disgust at Radicaal’s action. “The unjust and hurtful way in which police officers are put away is a gross insult and completely misplaced. Freedom of speech is a great asset, but it is regrettable to note that politics is practiced on the basis of prejudices and generalizations. In these difficult times in particular, you can expect political parties to think about how to connect instead of polarize. ”

It is not yet clear whether the unions will report the crime. “We are going to consider this internally,” said Brink. Simmers points out that the Public Prosecution Service itself can also decide to prosecute.

BIJ1 was not available for comment on Sunday evening.

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