Suspect arrested in case around threatened Rotterdam teacher

The police arrested an 18-year-old woman from Rotterdam on Friday morning in the investigation into threats made against a local teacher over a cartoon he had in his classroom. The young woman is suspected of incitement, the police said.

"The woman is suspected of having posted a message on social media, as result of which she incited others to commit criminal offenses towards the school and teacher," the police said. "Because the investigation is still ongoing, the Public Prosecution Service and the police are not making any further statements."

The teacher at Emmauscollege in Rotterdam went into hiding this week due to threats made against him. On Monday, the school commemorated French teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded on a Paris street last month after showing a cartoon of the prophet Mohammad in class during a lesson on freedom of expression.

After the commemoration, a group of students went to the Rotterdam teacher and asked that he remove a cartoon from his class. The cartoon was drawn by cartoonist Joep Bertram about the attack on satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015. It depicted a decapitated man in a Charlie Hebdo shirt sticking his tongue out at the jihadist who beheaded him. 

Pictures of the cartoon started circulating online, and the teacher received threats. Ministers Arie Slob and Ingrid van Engelshoven and various parliamentarians responded to these threats with outrage and dismay.