Far-right MP fined for circulating doctored photo of ministers hoisting Nazi flag

Forum voor Democratie parliamentarian Pepijn van Houwelingen was issued a 450 euro fine by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) for public insult. The member of parliament had posted a doctored image on Twitter in September showing two ministers with a Nazi flag. Health Minister Ernst Kuipers and Social Affairs Minister Karien van Gennip filed a report with the police after Van Houwelingen shared the image of them.

Kamerlid brengt twee ministers in verband met nazi-regime. Nieuw dieptepunt. Wanstaltig.

Ik dien een klacht in bij de Tweede Kamer wegens schenden van de gedragsregels.

Lees hier mijn hele reactie ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/wWVc9uzFyi

— Jan Paternotte (@jpaternotte) September 25, 2022

The original photo of Kuipers and Van Gennip showed them hoisting a flag featuring the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals above the building that their ministries share. The MP shared an altered version of the photo in which a swastika flag replaced the Sustainable Development Goals flag. The ministers called the doctored image "shocking" and "a new low in the treatment of officials and politicians."

The MP was questioned on January 9 by the Rijksrecherche, the national service that handles investigations into government offices and officials. The OM concluded that this was a case of criminal insult. This is typically the case when a situation goes beyond offending someone, and when a suspect is shown to have a specific intent to damage someone's reputation.

Politicians need to be given latitude to express their opinion in the public debate, the Public Prosecution Service considers. "However, in the second tweet with the edited photo, both ministers were portrayed as Nazis. That is 'unnecessarily offensive' and therefore an insult according to the Criminal Code," the OM said on Thursday.

The OM said it believes that Van Houwelingen could have formulated his criticism of the ministers in a different way, as he had already done that in an earlier tweet. Politicians have a great responsibility in the social debate and Van Houwelingen has a large number of followers on Twitter, the OM argued. He had approximately 75,000 followers on Twitter as of Thursday.

Van Houwelingen deleted the tweet, stating that he "in no way" compared Kuipers to Nazism, but that he intended to compare the UN targets to Nazism. Van Houwelingen can object to the fine. If he does, the case will go to court.

At his weekly press conference, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that he found Van Houwelingen's action "totally distasteful." He said he fully supported his colleagues' reaction. It is therefore to be expected that the Cabinet will once again take the matter to court should such a case arise again. The prime minister said he was at a loss for words over Van Houwelingen's publication of the image.