Wednesday, 1 April 2015 - 13:56
Justice official reassigned after "ISIS is a Zionist plot" tweet
Yasmina Haifi has been conditionally discharged after her tweet that stated that ISIS is a Zionist plot to give Islam a bad name. The conditional discharge means that Haifi may continue to work for the Ministry of Security and Justice, but will be immediately dismissed if she puts another foot wrong.
Minister Ard van der Steur informed the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament, about this decision in a letter Tuesday. Haifi will not be returning to her old post at the National Cyber Security Center, from which she was suspended after posting the controversial tweet, Omroep West reports. It is not yet clear where she will work from now on.
The Advisory Committee for Fundamental Rights and Job Performance of Officials (AGFA) determined that the controversial tweet can be classified as a "dereliction of duty", and advised the minister to give Haifi a written reprimand. But Van der Steur decided that a written reprimand is not severe enough. "Given the seriousness of the dereliction of duty and the function of the official, I believe that the punishment of a written reprimand is not appropriate. I decided to impose the disciplinary punishment of conditional discharge on the official." He wrote in his letter to the Tweede Kamer.
Haifi's controversial tweet caused quite a stir in political circles. The commotion surrounding the tweet lead Haifi to the decision to resign as a member of the PvdA. Two days after the tweet was posted Ivo Opstelten, the then Minister of Security and Justice, and Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher expressed their shock and disgust over the tweet, Opstelten stating that a dismissal was not out of the question. Last month AGFA came to the conclusion that the tweet was not enough to fire Haifi and that the statements made by Asscher and Opstelten were premature and "disturbed" the labor relations.