NS denies populist politician's claim of "Moroccans" harassing passengers

Rail company NS denied a claim FvD leader Thierry Baudet posted on social media about female passengers being "seriously harassed by four Moroccans on a train" on Friday evening. According to the rail company, Baudet's "Moroccans" were NS employees and a police officer checking the two women's tickets, NOS reports.

"This evening two dear friends were seriously harassed by four Moroccans on a train," the leader of the populist party posted on Instagram and Twitter. "Making a declaration is of course completely useless. Oh dear, childishly naive Dutch! Finally vote for change. Break free from politically correct bullshit! Save this country."

Baudet's posts quickly got responses from others on the train, saying that his version of events were untrue. The women's tickets were being checked by NS employees. And on Sunday afternoon, NS confirmed this. The ticket checks were being done by NS employees in civilian clothing - a common tactic used by the rail company to catch people riding without a ticket.

The "incident" happened in the sprinter from Weesp to Amsterdam at around 8:45 p.m. on Friday, an NS spokesperson said to NOS. The inspectors asked to see the women's tickets, but the women asked for them to identify themselves. The inspectors did so, along with a police officer in civilian clothing who also identified himself, and the women showed them their tickets. And that was that, the spokesperson said, calling it "not a noteworthy incident".

According to the spokesperson, NS regularly performs civilian checks, because people riding without a ticket are alert to uniformed employees and manage to evade them. It therefore often happens that NS employees are asked to confirm their identity and position.

NOS "repeatedly" asked Baudet and his spokesperson for a comment, but did not receive a response, the broadcaster wrote.