Dutch cops won't be prosecuted for inappropriate remarks in Paris

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) won’t prosecute six Oost-Nederland cops for a video posted on social media in which they apparently insult a group of ethnically diverse people in Paris. According to the OM, the video can’t be considered hate speech or group insult.

The video consists of several fragments pasted together, presumably recorded by the cops when they were in Paris to watch a football match while off duty on the weekend of March 25 and 26. They’re sitting in a car and making remarks about people walking by. According to NRC, they chanted “fewer, fewer, fewer,” referring to PVV leader Geert Wilders’ statements about Moroccans that got him convicted of hate speech.

According to the OM, the police officers’ statements are “ambiguous and not clearly aimed at one specific group or specific ethnicity.” As they were sitting in a car, the statements also weren’t made publicly, the OM said. “The comments were made in a closed setting, in front of a limited number of people who have a personal connection with each other.”

The OM acknowledged that the video might be experienced as upsetting. But added: “The OM judges purely and solely on any criminal component. Whether disciplinary action will follow is up to the police.”