All of the papers report that Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin will appear in the lower house of parliament today to explain why the Arnhem Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) allowed a violent and dangerous prisoner, who was a known flight risk, to go on leave.

Saban Baran, serving a 7 and-a-half year jail sentence for forced prostitution and human trafficking, was allowed unsupervised leave in order to be present at the birth of his child and spend a week with the newborn. He was told to report to police every day but failed to do so on Friday the 11th of September. Police didn't report the matter to the OM until Monday the 14th. A judge didn't get around to approving an arrest warrant until the 15th. Trouw, De Telegraaf and de Volkskrant all report that the justice minister wants tighter regulations governing leave for prisoners.

The issue has come up several time before now and the minister’s plans to tighten the rules does rather have the appearance of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted and the barn has burned down.

Trouw writes that many of the women who were forced into prostitution by Baran are terrified and have gone into hiding. Sanne Kroon of Bonded Labour in the Netherlands, an organisation that helps victims of human trafficking, says the organisation's telephone has been ringing constantly since Baran escaped and his victims, already severely traumatised, are terrified.

Ms Kroon says the Dutch justice system has been severely damaged by the incident and tells the paper that one victim rang and said "I've been living in hell because of what he did to me and he gets a week's holiday, I don't understand it". Neither do I.

Cabinet solves shopping Sunday dispute
Trouw reports that the cabinet - a three-party coalition comprised of the Christian Democrats, the Labour Party and the Christian Union - has finally solved the long-running dispute over Sunday shopping. The opposition parties and many towns and cities in the Netherlands want to scrap the ban on Sunday opening; many municipalities have circumvented the law by declaring huge areas as tourist attractions, thereby allowing shops to open.

The Protestant paper writes that Christian parties in the coalition have been demanding that municipalities strictly adhere to the 12 shopping Sundays per year law and stop dodging the law by declaring every street with a shop as a tourist attraction.

The dispute over Sunday shopping has been quite a problem for the government but a solution has finally been agreed: the cabinet has agreed to postpone tackling the law for a year!

Transavia pilot arrested
De Volkskrant writes that a Transavia pilot was arrested at Valencia airport by Spanish police on suspicion of carrying out 'death flights' during the 1976 to 1983 Argentinean dictatorship. The pilot, who holds dual Dutch and Argentinean citizenship, was hauled out of the cockpit shortly before takeoff. The Argentinean junta got rid of opponents by throwing them out of aeroplanes flying above the sea.

The pilot's arrest led to a long delay for passengers; they eventually arrived back at Schiphol at about 3 am, some eight hours later than originally planned. The airline had to fly a new crew in from Amsterdam in order to get the plane back to the Netherlands. Passengers say they had no idea what was going on; Transavia only said that the flight had been delayed due to the fact that the pilot was unable to carry out his duties.

Unemployed people over 55 must work as carers
In an interview with Trouw, Professor Lans Bovenberg, an economist allied to the Christian Democrat CDA party says that unemployed people between the ages of 55 and 75 should be required to work as carers in exchange for pension rights and payments. According to the professor, the move would solve the chronic shortage of carers.

The CDA economist admits, "it is paternalistic to require people to work in exchange for government benefits,” but he's convinced that it would lead to “a healthy change in the social climate in the Netherlands".

De Telegraaf meanwhile reports that if part-timers working in the healthcare branch were all to work an extra two hours per week, the sector would need to fill 75,000 fewer jobs. The Netherlands is experiencing a chronic shortage of personnel for hospitals, old people's homes and other healthcare facilities.

Minister proposes breathalysing pedestrians
De Telegraaf reports that Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst has proposed a change to the law that would allow police to breathalyse pedestrians. The interior minister is consulting with her colleague over at the justice ministry about the changes, as the courts could challenge the law. At present, the law allows police officers to breathalyse motorists and people riding mopeds and scooters but pedestrians are exempt, even though public drunkenness is a punishable offence.

According to the minister, the change will help to prevent drunken and aggressive people causing problems in areas with lots of cafés and bars. The populist paper writes that the minister believes that many problems in entertainment districts are caused by excessive alcohol consumption.