“You look upset,” the judge said on Monday to a 26-year-old man from Ruinen. “So am I,” said the man. He had just been sentenced to 60 hours of community service for removing and setting fire to three rainbow flags in Meppel. The judge finds open violence proven.
Two residents of Meppel were woken up on the night of June 20, 2023 by male voices and noise. They saw four men taking down their rainbow flag. The two residents ran outside and saw their flag being set on fire by the men. Three people from the group ran away, only the 26-year-old man from Ruinen was caught.
De Ruiner wanted to make an agreement that night, the robbed rainbow flag owner told the police judge on Monday. The damage would be compensated.
The next morning, De Ruiner texted the complainant: “We’ll solve it in a minute. I’ll come to you with the money. And a case of beer. What are you drinking?” But mutual resolution was no longer possible.
The robbed Meppeler had now heard from a neighbor that her rainbow flag had also been stolen. “You have blown your gun. You said you had only done this to me,” the Meppeler said to the Ruiner and still filed a report.
In addition to him, two more women reported the same thing. The suspect remained silent when contacted by the police. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) made a proposal to settle the case without court intervention.
The twenties denied the case completely to the judge. He was a casual passer-by when he was approached by the people of Meppel, the man said. He said he kept quiet with the police because he felt threatened. The judge could not follow him in his statements.
There is no evidence that the Ruiner tore the flags from the facades. However, she believes there is sufficient evidence that the suspect was part of the group that was hunting for rainbow flags.
The app conversation with the victim in which the suspect indicated that he wanted to make mutual arrangements was especially important. “This does not indicate any form of threat,” the judge said. De Ruiner was the only one on trial, the others remained unknown.
The public prosecutor demanded 60 hours of community service. “You keep others out of the wind,” the prosecutor said. He mainly blamed the Ruiner for disturbing people’s sleep and touching their property.
“The flags had to be destroyed because they symbolize the LGBTQIA+ community. In this way, others are deprived of the freedom to be themselves,” the prosecutor said.
The judge called it a ‘malicious and hateful’ crime. “What you did was offensive and it strikes fear in others,” the judge said. She agreed to the prosecutor’s sentence proposal.