Two males have been sentenced to 5 years in jail for making an attempt to kill a Dutch journalist in a Molotov cocktail assault.
The court docket in Groningen convicted the suspects -- recognized as Tjeerd P. and Jaimy W. -- of tried homicide and arson on Monday.
They had been accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail into the house of journalist Willem Groeneveld in August 2021.
In line with prosecutors, the lads carried out the late-night assault as a result of they opposed Groeneveld's "destructive" protection of demonstrations towards COVID-19 lockdowns.
The court docket in Groningen mentioned the attackers threw a beer bottle full of kerosine via the journalist's entrance door, inflicting a small fireplace.
No person was injured within the assault, however Groeneveld mentioned that for the reason that assault “he has all the time been on his guard and feels partly disadvantaged of his journalistic freedom.”
“Journalistic freedom is a crucial pillar of the democratic constitutional state," the court docket added in a assertion.
"Journalists have an necessary position in shaping social discussions and should be capable to specific themselves freely, with out having to worry for his or her security."
The Molotov cocktail assault occurred only one month after Dutch investigative reporter Peter R De Vries was fatally injured in a taking pictures in Amsterdam.
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