Sylvana Simons

Sylvanna Simons, leader of pro-diversity party Bij1, will avoid debates with new populist party FvD as much as possible in the run-up to the municipal elections in the Netherlands next month. It is "difficult to talk to people who hold certain ideas", she said to the Volkskrant on Sunday prior to a discussion between six potential new council members in Amsterdam arranged by the newspaper. 

A Facebook post by Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws about politician Sylvana Simons looking for a new name for her multicultural political party, led to so many "negative and racist responses" that the broadcaster decided to remove the post.

A total of 22 suspects will appear in the court in Amsterdam this week for threatening politician Sylvana Simons. The first six cases will appear on Wednesday, the other 16 on Thursday. Simons intends to attend the trial, Het Parool reports.

Bram Verhappen resigned as chairman of Sylvana Simons' political party Artikel 1 last month, NOS discovered in a document from the Chamber of Commerce. 

Verhappen was chairman of the party, which promises equal rights to voters, for a matter of months. The party was launched in December last year. It is unclear why he resigned. Artikel 1 would not comment on the news, according to newspaper AD.

Secretary and treasurer Reguillo Wijngaarde took over Verhappen's duties, according to the document. 

A total of 20 people will be prosecuted for threatening, insulting and/or discriminating against politician Sylvana Simons, chief prosecutor Theo Hofstee said to NPO Radio 1 on Friday. That's doulbe the initial number of suspects the prosecutor announced in December, NU.nl reports.

Sylvana Simons announced the candidates for her new political party Artikel 1. The top three on the list are women, headed by Simons herself. The party promises to promote equality and combat discrimination, Simons said when announcing the candidate list to broadcaster RTL.

Sylviana Simons' new political party Artikel 1 was founded weeks before she announced that she was leaving political party DENK, the Telegraaf reports based on documents from the Chamber of Commerce.

Simons managed to keep her plans for resigning from DENK secret, while establishing her new party in time for the elections, by registering the new party on the name of cultural activists Bram Verhappen and Reguillo Wijngaarde, instead of her own, according to the newspaper. 

The Public Prosecutor is paying extra attention to discrimination on social media with the elections coming up on March 15th, chief prosecutor Theo Hofstee said in an interview with AT5. He wants quick action if someone is insulted or discriminated against.

Farid Azarkan, parliamentarian for pro-diversity party DENK, filed a report of threats made against him with the police, his party announced. According to DENK, the threat was made on a private Facebook group and the word "assassination" was used, RTL Nieuws reports.

The PvdA was complicit in normalizing racism and discrimination over the past 20 years, candidate MP for DENK Sylvana Simons said in the Amsterdam debate center De Balie in an interview with Wilfred Genee on Sunday. In a reaction PvdA leader Diederik Samsom called these accusations "absurd", NU.nl reports.

The Hague city councilor Fatima Faid is filing a report with the Discrimination Office over a video made to the song "Oh Sylvana" by carnival singer Rob van Daal and posted online. The video, and several others like it, makes fun of and insults DENK politician Sylvana Simons, Omroep Brabant reports.

The song "Oh Sylvana" also strongly seems too be be about the politician, though singer Rob van Daal denies this.