Amsterdam Public Prosecutor Nicole Zandee is firmly against the call from some politicians to relax the approach to ecstasy. "Personally, I am not in favor of that", she said in an interview with AT5. "I think it's junk."
Zandee pointed out that ecstasy is still on the first list of the Opium Act and considered a hard drug. "There are also still young people who die through the use of ecstasy."
GroenLinks wants ecstasy to be removed from criminal hands by having the government regulate the drug's production, parliamentarian Kathalijne Buitenweg said to the Volkskrant.
"The government does not have to make the pills itself, but the government must want to take control", she said to the newspaper. She recommends a permit system with controlled production, so that only pills that meet quality requirements are available. "I say it because of public health, but also because we have to do something about the frighteningly growing power of criminals."
A majority of the lower house of Dutch parliament is very concerned about the communication system for the emergency services and police C2000, which is provided by a Chinese company. "Our communication systems must never be unnecessarily vulnerable", the VVD said. The ruling party and opposition parties GroenLinks, SP and PVV therefore call for the Netherlands to stop using Chinese software for vital infrastructure, RTL Nieuws reports.
A nearly 1 thousand page long manual explaining in detail how pedophiles can lure, groom, and abuse children has been spread in the Netherlands for years. Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security is looking into whether this book can be banned.
Research by RTL Nieuws revealed that this pedophile manual has been available on the dark web for over 10 years. The book is actively shared on forums for pedophiles and supplemented with new tips, experiences and advice. The police confirmed to the broadcaster that the book was used by various Dutch pedophiles.
The Dutch government plans to ban firecrackers before the end of the year, in an effort to make New Year's safer. Firework sellers will also be obliged to give their customers safety goggles and stable firing tubes for rockets, RTL Nieuws reports based in information from insiders in The Hague.
GroenLinks parliamentarian Kathalijne Buitenweg called on Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs to explain why French Islam critic Zineb El Rhazoui was refused protection for her talk in De Balie in Amsterdam on Thursday, RTL Nieuws reports.
El Rhazoui worked at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo when a terrorist attack on the magazine killed twelve people in 2015. Since then she's been the target of numerous death threats, and is therefore under intense security in her own country.
The first formal and substantive negotiations for forming a government with the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks start at 9:30 this morning. The parties will try to find common ground and make agreements on a number of major issues, including employment, income distribution, the tax system, the energy transition and the environment, security and defense, immigration and integration, education and healthcare, NOS reports.
