Twenty prosecuted for threatening, insulting politician Sylvana Simons

A total of 20 people will be prosecuted for threatening, insulting and/or discriminating against politician Sylvana Simons, chief prosecutor Theo Hofstee said to NPO Radio 1 on Friday. That's doulbe the initial number of suspects the prosecutor announced in December, NU.nl reports.

Simons was met with a wave of threats and insults after she announced her candidacy for potlical party DENK. At the end of that month she announced that she is pressing charges against the "deluge of racist, sexist and discriminatory comments". By then the Public Prosecutor already started an investigation.

Not all 20 suspects will end up in court. In some cases the Public Prosecutor will consider other forms of settlement, such as a fine.

In November a video appeared online containing Simons portrayed as Zwarte Piet and a naked African woman while carnival number Oh Sylvana played in the background. Her face was also pasted over victims in what is clearly a representation of a Ku Klux Klan lynching. And on football program Voetbal Inside football analyst Johan Derksen compared Simons to a monkey.

Simons left DENK in December and will now be taking part in the parliamentary elections in March with her own party called Artikel 1 - referring to the equality article in the Dutch constitution.