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A younger Willem Holleeder |
Dutch law allows the Public Prosecutor's Office to offer a witness a reduction of up to a third in their sentence. Judges are not obliged to follow the public prosecutor's recommendation, but in practice sentence accordingly. Criminal lawyer Cees Korvinus, a declared opponent of plea bargains, says that they are: "to put it simply, bought statements from criminals, people who have an interest in incriminating others."
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"The Koran is so primitive, hateful, and oversimplified" |
On the front page of today's De Telegraaf, a story about a remarkable call to censure the Koran. In an article published in the party magazine of the conservative VVD, the party's scientific bureau says Islam's holy book should be cleansed of all calls to hate and commit crimes.
The article is quoted even more extensively in Trouw: "the Koran is so primitive, hateful, and oversimplified, that simply reading from it makes one guilty of discrimination and incitement to hatred." The author, who hides behind a pseudonym, says the Koran urges Muslims to kill non-believers. He says this is "a serious crime which should be dealt with accordingly."
The party's MPs have distanced themselves from the article. One of them said that the Koran fits in the context of the time it was written in: the sixth century. "If you want to change that, you will also have to rewrite our national anthem."
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Get paid to leave the car at home |
The AD reports on a group of major Dutch corporations offering their personnel all kinds of incentives to use public transport in an attempt to reduce grid lock on the motorways around The Hague.
Staff commuting in from surrounding towns are offered a variety of incentives to leave their cars at home, including a five euro per day bonus, free public transport passes, handhelds with transport information and free internet connections allowing them to work from home.
AD writes that the initiative is a follow up to a successful small-scale experiment, in which participating motorists halved the number of trips they made during rush hour. During the follow-up, motorists will be monitored for at least six months using data from GPS satellites. The incentives are paid for by the participating corporations.
Rabobank Vice President Willem de Jager says: "With the money they save, they can afford these presents ten times over. A lease car costs twice as much as a public transport pass. It really pays to get your employees out of their cars."
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"No more lost generations" |
Today's De Volkskrant leads with a report on educational reform. Deputy Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt has postponed the introduction of a controversial new educational system in intermediate vocational education by two years. The new system, called competence-oriented learning, is based on the assumption that students learn more from working on individual assignments than from a teacher explaining subject matter in class.
However, school boards have been accused of introducing the system to cut costs. The deputy minister has given schools an additional two years to prove that the system is actually working: "Students should not become the victims of educational reform: no more lost generations."
Ban on sex with animalsThe AD says it has carried out research which shows the Netherlands is the world's largest distributor and producer of animal porn. The reports follows Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin's announcement last week that distribution and production of such material will soon be banned.
According to the AD, Reliable figures are unavailable, but it's believed to be a multi-million-euro business, with Germany and the US the main markets. One of the companies involved produces around 20 films a month, and operates hundreds of related websites.
A former employee of one of the distribution companies claims that both actresses and animals are well treated: "these animals are your working capital, believe you me, they are being pampered."
Tags: cars, criminals, Koran, motorist, party, science, underworld, VVD