Heerlen councilor fined for calling Prosecutor a Nazi on Twitter

Heerlen councilor Christian Petermann was convicted for insulting the Public Prosecution Service and prosecutor Anja Janssen-De Boer by calling her a Nazi on Twitter. On Monday the court in Maastricht fined Petermann 500 euros, 250 euros of which are conditionally suspended, NU.nl reports. The tweet was in response to the trial against Roermond politician Jos van Rey, on which Janssen-de Boer worked. Petermann compared her to Irma Grese, a notorious SS camp keeper who worked in Auschwitz, Ravensbruck and Bergen-Belsen. Petermann tweeted: “This is disproportionate. I hope Anja Janssen-De Boer, or rather ‘the Irma Grese of the Public Prosecutor’, crashes tonight.” The court ruled that the tweet was unnecessarily offensive and insulting. It brought the prosecutor into disrepute and affected her dignity. The court found that it was deliberately offensive, and therefore can be considered insult and defamation, and not freedom of expression. Petermann was also accused of saying that the "misery" the Public Prosecutor causes is "27 times worse" than "that in the concentration camps" in two newspaper interviews. The councilor denies this, saying he was misquoted. The court found not enough evidence in this matter and acquitted Petermann of insult on this charge. Two weeks ago the Public Prosecutor demanded 40 hours of community service against Petermann. The Heerlen councilor is still considering whether to appeal.