Den Bosch mayor will not be prosecuted for hate speech allegations

Den Bosch Mayor Jack Mikkers (VVD) will not be prosecuted for group insult. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) dismissed all 27 complaints of discrimination against him on Friday.

The complaints against the mayor were filed following his remarks during a residents' meeting in late October about the potential arrival of asylum seeker centers in Den Bosch. A woman then expressed her opinion on asylum seekers from Syria, saying, "[…] Everything that happens: Syria is at the top." The mayor responded: "That's not true, it's Morocco." This statement was captured in a video made by an attendee of the meeting and spread via social media.

However, the OM concluded that the mayor did not make any criminal statements. According to the prosecutor, the mayor's reaction can be seen as a response to the nuisance caused by Moroccan asylum seekers. "This is not an insulting statement directed at a group of people because of their race, but rather a statement about the behavior of a specific group. This does not fall within the discrimination articles of the Criminal Code," the office stated on Friday.

"For me, it's important that we continue to seek connection with each other here in 's-Hertogenbosch. And that we keep the conversation going," said Jack Mikkers, reacting to the news that he will not be prosecuted. He had previously declared that he deeply regrets what he said. "I should have better framed the context of what I meant. Now, it seems as if I see the Moroccan community in my city, in our country, as a nuisance group of Dutch people. That is not the case, it is far from who I am."

The boards of the Arrahma and Attakwa mosques and the Moroccan Youth Foundation (Stichting Marokkaanse Jongeren) in Den Bosch had earlier expressed their "astonishment" at the statement. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the nearly thirty people who filed complaints feel hurt and insulted. "They believe that the statement negatively reflects Moroccan people and has a harmful impact on both themselves and others in their community," the OM said.

The National Expertise Center on Discrimination (Landelijk Expertise Centrum Discriminatie), affiliated with the Amsterdam court, assessed the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest, according to the Public Prosecution Service. "After all, the mayor of Den Bosch is part of the local triangle, which also includes the chief public prosecutor of the Oost-Brabant court."