Dutch to get tough on diplomats who break the law, says minister

Wednesday 23 April 2014
An Afghan diplomat who hit a 23-year-old Dutch man several times during a road rage incident at the end of last year has been sent back home, foreign minister Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday.
Timmermans spoke about the incident while outlining a new get-tough policy towards diplomats and family members who break the law and then claim diplomatic immunity.
‘Diplomats who break the rules will be tackled,’ Timmermans said. ‘Immunity does not mean our laws do not apply to them.
List
The government is planning to publish an annual list of embassies and international organisations whose staff do not pay their fines, Timmermans said in a briefing to parliament.
The government will also ask for diplomatic immunity to be lifted in serious cases, he said.
'We support the Treaty of Vienna and there are limits to what we can do,' Timmermans said. 'But we are going to use all the options open to us.'
Crimes
Broadcaster RTL last year revealed people with diplomatic immunity have been responsible for 85 crimes since 2010. The diplomatic corps in the Netherlands amounts to some 20,000 people.
The total of 85 criminal offences includes 42 diplomats who were stopped by traffic police. In two out of three cases they were drunk. In other incidents the embassy worker refused to take a breathalyser test, RTL news said.
In 13 cases, diplomatic staff were caught shoplifting or were involved in other petty crime while in eight cases domestic violence was an issue. Colombia also recalled a diplomat after he was found to have connections to drugs gangs.
Russian and Chinese diplomats had six accusations each of wrong-doing to their name, RTL said.

© DutchNews.nl

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