Thinking about criticising of the Dutch Royal House? ‘Names will never hurt me’ used to be the motto in the Netherlands but that era is long gone. In earlier times, you'd get away with a warning but nowadays prosecutors demand long prison sentences for acts of ‘lèse majesté’. Some people say this is an attack on freedom of expression.

It's the third Tuesday of September 2010; here in the Netherlands it Prinsjesdag, or the State opening of Parliament. Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Máxima are in the Golden coach on the way to the Knights' Hall to deliver the speech from the throne, outlining the government’s plans for the coming year.

Cheering crowds lined the streets, waving and clapping, when suddenly a tiny object clattered against the side of the Golden Coach. A man in the crowd had thrown a tea light candle holder at the coach and yelled, “thieves and imposters." Police immediately arrested the culprit, 30-year-old Erwin Lensink. He claims that Queen Beatrix and her family have no right to the Dutch throne.

It's now a year later and Mr Lensink is still being held on remand, awaiting trial. Cees Fasseur, royal biographer and former judge, agrees that a year on remand is, “a really long time." He adds, “there is absolutely no reason to keep someone on remand for a year in cases like this, unless of course there is some legal reason behind it."

Delusional
The court claims that Mr Lensink is still on remand because experts must determine whether he can be held accountable for his actions. The court will only issue its ruling after Mr Lensink's mental state has been properly determined. Meanwhile, one panel of experts has declared him mentally incapable and says he suffers from delusions, while a second panel has dismissed the findings of the first.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO) claims that it is already proven beyond doubt that Mr Lensink attempted to inflict grievous bodily harm on the footmen walking alongside the coach, damaged the coach itself and insulted queen, Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima. Mr Lensink has also been accused of issuing verbal threats against 2 people, via the telephone. One of those whom he allegedly threatened was his brother, with whom he was involved in a dispute.

According to Mr Lensink's lawyer, his act of throwing a tea light candle holder was an expression of his frustration with the fact that nothing had been done about the police report he filed against at the queen and her family. The PPO has demanded that Mr Lensink be admitted to a psychiatric institution for at least a year.

It certainly would have been a different story had Mr Lensink thrown a tea light candle holder at a rubbish collection vehicle; the royal family is protected by special laws, which date from 1886. Anyone convicted of lèse majesté can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison.

The public prosecutor's office has been on high alert ever since the failed attack on the Royal family on Queen's day in 2009 and law professor Henny Sackers confirms that the 1886 laws are being used more frequently to prosecute people for insulting or attacking the Royal family: “it is noticeable that in the last few years, there have been a number of incidents which could be termed, ‘attacks against the royal dignity’. No one had been prosecuted under those old laws for decades and then suddenly they seem to have been resurrected. The PPO is really coming down hard on lèse majesté."

Another example of the PPO crackdown is the 2010 Dam Square screamer incident. During the official ceremony– at Amsterdam's Dam Square–marking Remembrance Day, a man screamed during the 2 min of silence. The scream caused panic and 63 people were injured. Because Queen Beatrix was at the official ceremony, the screamer was accused of attempting to assault the Queen, a charge that carries a maximum seven-year sentence.

Hundreds of witnesses
Eventually, the Dam Square screamer was released after five weeks because prosecutors were unable to prove that the scream endangered either the queen or anybody else present. Mireille van Essen, the lawyer who defended the Dam Square screamer and is also defending the ‘tea light tosser’, says there has been a definite attempt to make it clear that the royal house is “not to be trifled with."

She adds, “Prosecuting and punishing someone for throwing a tea light candle holder is perfectly legitimate but you cannot punish someone for asking whether or not Queen Beatrix holds legitimate title to the Dutch throne. There are people who will ask those sorts of questions and maybe that's positive."

Fellow lawyer, Jef Ketelaar says criticism of the Royal house is “a political belief or opinion that must be protected." He says judges should give more weight to the right to freedom of speech and not kowtow to the demands of the PPO quite so readily.

Judges will issue a verdict in the case against Mr Lensink on Friday.

(jric)