38-year-old Danny van L. from Heemskerk has been given a community service order of 180 hours for sending a tweet with a photo of a gallows to Hugo de Jonge, then Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport. The police judge ruled this in the court of Amsterdam on Tuesday, ANP news agency reports. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded a 240-hour community service and a four-month suspended prison sentence for threats of death.
The tweet read: “The gallows are ready for you @minVWS Hugo! #QRanksensible #3OctoberAmsterdam”. It included a photo of a gallows that a demonstrator had with him during a demonstration against the corona policy on October 3 last year in Amsterdam. The prosecutor called the tweet “undeniably threatening in nature”. The convicted man deleted the tweet fairly quickly after posting.
Danny van L. said in court that it was not his intention to threaten De Jonge. With the tweet, he wanted to make it clear to the minister that the corona policy led to polarization in society. In his own words, Van L. was shocked by the presence of the gallows on Dam Square. For that reason, he says he wrote “#QRanksensible” in the tweet. The convicted man has sent De Jonge a letter of apology.