Kicking, Hitting, and Plundering: ‘Bus Company Underestimates the Violence’.

Transport companies have not taken the violence against bus drivers seriously. Due to the slow reaction of the bus companies the police respond belatedly to the drivers’ appeals for help.

This sharp criticism was expressed by the FNV Bondgenoten labor union in reaction to the violence severaldays ago. After a series of earlier incidents in Gouda, Arnhem amd Almere and other cities, now drivers in Tilburg and Purmerend have been attacked. According to the labor union the central council of the bus companies should call for help from the police much quicker when drivers put in a call for help. This might contribute to putting an end to the increasing violence.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3147317/___Busbedrijf_onderschat_het_geweld___.html

Moroccans and Turks Afraid of Move to ‘White Neighborhood”

Many Moroccan and Turkish immigrants are afraid of moving to a ‘white
neighborhood’. They think they will be lonely there and looked upon negatively by the neighbors. The hardened societal climate is behind this fear. This results from a report titled ‘One cannot buy good neighbors.’ It was published by the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau.
www.parool.nl/parool/article/print/detail.do?language=nl&navigationItemId=6&componentId=137195&title=&navigation=

University Again Breaks through Transport Ticket Security

The new chip-based transportation ticket is being introduced increasingly in the Netherlands. At the request of a regional radio station, Radboud University staff members have been traveling illegally on the Rotterdam underground for days with tickets which have been manipulated to increase their value, accompanied by journalists from the radio station. The same university had already shown in the past that the security of these tickets could be broken very easily.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2015722.ece/Radboud_Universiteit_kraakt_weer_chipkaart.html

Criminals Acquiring Homes in Amsterdam Neighborhood

Various housing corporations are refusing to sell apartments in the Venserpolder area in Amsterdam Southeast neighborhood. They think that the criminality in the area is already so serious that these apartments will mainly be bought by other criminals. Many apartments are already being used for trade in weapons, cannabis growing, and other criminal activities. The neighborhood council says that these concerns are exaggerated.
www.parool.nl/parool/nl/6/Wonen/article/detail/138644/2009/01/28/Venserpolder-in-criminele-handen.dhtml

Chinese Ambassador Complains about Robberies of Tourists

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun has written to Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen expressing his concern about the increasing number of robberies of Chinese tourists in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam police has received information about this phenomenon from Chinese shops in the town. The mayor’s office says that they are dealing with the letter they received in late December, but can not yet say anything about measures to be taken.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3127324/__Zorg_om_beroofde_Chinezen__.html

Amsterdam Judges Threatened after Decision on Prosecution of Wilders

Since its decision that Geert Wilders, leader of the Party of Freedom, should be prosecuted by the Attorney General, the Amsterdam Court of Justice has been receiving hate emails and phone calls. An anti-racism organization has received two hundred hate emails in a week. Twenty of these contain death threats. The organization has complained to the police. This lead to additional hate and threatening phone calls.
http://binnenland.nieuws.nl/544635/ook_gerechtshof_bedreigd_na_besluit_over_wilders

Wilders: Protect Lawyer who wants to Prosecute me

Lawyer Gerard Spong, who is among those who have put in complaints about Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, which have led to the latter’s prosecution, has received hundreds of hate emails. He has asked the Attorney General to provide him with security guards. Wilders has called upon the Minister of Justice to agree to Spong’s request. http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2017062.ece/Wilders_dringt_aan_op_beveiliging_Spong.html