Activist Hugo Kuijper has announced that he wants to burn a Quran in front of the doors of a Hoofdorp’s asylum seekers’ center. According to Kuijper, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer limits him in his demonstration law and so he wants to send a signal with an action on Wednesday 24 September. But can you just burn a Quran, and what consequences can that have?
The mayor of the mayor says it immediately. “Burning a Quran is not prohibited by law, so we just have to facilitate this demonstration.” A demonstration in the Netherlands can, as long as it is registered on time, can only be prohibited if safety is at stake.
“The demonstration has recently been registered with us, so we will look carefully in advance if and how we can make it run safely,” says the spokesperson. The municipality thus treats the Koran burning the same as an earlier demonstration of Kuijper, three weeks ago.
Even then, Kuijper protested at the AZC on the Planetenbaan, because he thought the money for the reception location should go to Haarlemmermeerders. That demonstration did not go as planned, he tells NH. “I had reported to the municipality that we wanted to be at the entrance gate of the AZC, but in the end we were put a hundred meters away in a corner.” Counter -protesters who came to Kuijpers action were allowed to be closer to the AZC.
In the meantime he has often been ‘put in the corner’, says Kuijper. “That is why I decided to burn a Quran at that location. If I stick to the rules neatly, and the municipality puts me away, then it is time for us to do something more fun than just a speech and a banner.”
At Kuijpers, the last AZC demonstration was the case.
It would not be the first time that a Quran was publicly destroyed in our province. On April 3, Pegida foreman Edwin Wagensveld stabbed a Koran on fire For the doors of the Amsterdam town hall. There he was met by dozens of counter -protesters, who had to be kept at a distance by the police.
At the end of June, Wagensveld trampled a Quran in The Hague. The Hoofddorp Kuijper was also present there, can be seen on images of Pownews. The two know each other well, after years of regularly taking action. Wagensveld was a guest at the demonstration at the end of August in Hoofddorp.
In the upcoming action on 24 September, Kuijper says he will stand up for his demonstration law, but burning a Koran at an AZC is a very specific message, says criminologist Elanie Rodermond (VU Amsterdam). “You often see that it is expressions of the underlying idea that Islam has no place in our society and that people with a migration background are not welcome here. That touches on ideas that rule within extremist currents, although you should definitely not just stick the ‘extremist’ label on someone.”
The chance that, as with Kuijpers, previous protest, counter -protesters will come to the combustion, Rodermond estimates high. “For many people, this book determines who they are and how they see themselves, that yields a lot of emotions. It would not surprise me if the police and municipality are already preparing for all kinds of scenarios.”
Punishable or not?
Earlier demonstrations have always been announced in advance to the municipality concerned and so they have nothing more than to grant the protest passage. But that does not mean that damaging or destroying a Quran has to remain without consequences.
Depending on the message that the perpetrator wants to carry out with the action, the person can still be prosecuted. Providing a person’s message is of course difficult, and that is why these kinds of protests rarely lead to persecution.
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There are exceptions, including at Kuijper and Wagensveld itself. This year, Wagensveld was arrested during a demonstration in Arnhem, which was forbidden in advance by Arnhem mayor Marcouch. He was accused of group insult of Muslims, insulting Marcouch and the violation of an area ban. He was eventually sentenced to a work sentence.
In 2018, the Kuijper police picked up, after a decapitated doll had been left at an Islamic foundation in Amsterdam. He confessed to being behind the promotion.
The spokesperson for the municipality of Haarlemmermeer emphasizes that it is not up to the mayor to find the method of demonstrating because it is a fundamental right. “We can only keep an eye on the safety risks.” Fear that it will get out of hand in Hoofddorp does not have Kuijper. “I also stick to the agreements again this time. The police will arrange the rest.”