Columnist threatened after writing about far-right FvD

Columnist Marcel van Roosmalen received multiple threats on social media after a column he wrote about Forum voor Democratie, which he read on radio program De Nieuws BV. He reported the threats to the police, he said, NU.nl reports.

In the column, Van Roosmalen said that FvD MP Gideon van Meijeren is a spy for Russian President Vladimir Putin. But not everyone took that as the irony it was intended as, he said to Jinek on Thursday. It sparked a lot of criticism and threats online. His address and his children's daycare were shared online on Thursday. "I don't know what action to take. I will report a few people who have threatened me," Van Roosmalen said. 

The columnist would like to also report broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland and director Arnold Karskens, he said. According to Van Roosmalen, the broadcaster exacerbated the issue by paying a lot of attention to it in Ongehoord Nieuws. 

Ongehoord Nieuws presenter Arlette Adriani compared Van Roosmalen's column to critical remarks then PvdA leader Marcel van Dam made about LPF leader Pim Fortuyn twenty years ago. Adriani said Van Dam's comments led to Fortuyn's murder in 2002 and suggested that history could repeat itself with Van Roosmalen's column.

"I immediately noticed that not everyone took the column as irony," Van Roosmalen said on Jinek. "I've been verbally abused and threatened all day."