Three men and two women are on trial this afternoon because of threats from writer Pim Lammers, who grew up in Norg. Lammers resigned his assignment for the Children’s Book Week in February because he had received death threats.
The threats followed online attacks against the author over an adult story he wrote nearly a decade ago about the relationship between a teenage boy and his trainer. The fuss arose after a Christian lobby group, presenter Monique Smit and model Kim Feenstra shared a few sentences from the story online.
In the end, Lammers read the poem he had written for the Children’s Book Week at the Book Ball in early March.
From the start, the police stated that they would take this case ‘very seriously: threats are a serious and punishable offence. Free speech is a great asset and we want and must protect and guard it.’ The suspects come from Hoevelaken, Kaatsheuvel, Venlo (two) and Amsterdam. The case will be heard by the police judge of the court in Utrecht this afternoon.