Dutch man to be prosecuted for insulting Erdogan

A 64-year-old man from Sittard will face the court in The Hague on Friday for insulting Turkish president Recept Tayyip Erdogan. In 2016 the man sent multiple offensive emails to the Turkish embassy in The Hague in which he compared Erdogan to Hitler and called him a "goat fucker", among other things, 1Limburg reports.

In one email he wrote: "Erdogan, you fucking goat fucker, burn in hell." An attachment added to the email showed Hitler and Erdogan, with a swastika between them and the text: "There's no difference". In another email he said: "Erdogan takes the whole world hostage with his pernicious ideas. More than seventy years ago, a similar dictator made exactly the same mistake. I regret the Turkish people with this idiot, you do not deserve better."

According to the newspaper, the Dutch man is facing charges of insult, insulting an official, and insulting a friendly head of state. The Sittard man's lawyer did not want to comment to 1Limburg about the case. "It is not in my client's best interest to respond at the moment."

The Public Prosecutor in The Hague confirmed to the newspaper that a lawsuit is being prepared against the man and that the case will appear in the court in The Hague on Friday.