The Netherlands: Iran Rejects Dutch MP’s Claim on Tehran’s Christmas Gift

Dutch Parlimentarion Henk Krol

The Iranian embassy in The Hague has reacted to a Dutch MP’s throwing away of a Christmas gift sent by Iran, saying that the New Year’s congratulation messages have been sent to different figures regardless of their gender.

A video recently aired by POW channel showed Henk Krol, the parliamentary leader of 50PLUS party in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, dumping a Christmas gift he had received from the Iranian embassy. Krol claimed in this video that the gift had been sent only to male members of the Dutch parliament.

In reaction to the move, Iran’s embassy in The Hague said many women have been among the recipients of the message of the Iranian Ambassador as well.

According to a Farsi report by IRNA, the embassy announced in its statement that the video of throwing away of the Christmas gift sent by Iran’s embassy has been released by a cheap and yellow media.

Iran’s embassy said that every year the embassy sends a greeting card and a small gift to Dutch officials and salient figures on the New Year’s Eve.

“This year, the number of recipients of the message increased and the congratulatory message was sent to the parliamentary figures as well. Unfortunately, this person, with an incomplete and negative outlook at the Islamic Republic of Iran, claimed that the embassy congratulations were sent only to men.

While the fact is that the New Year greetings have been sent to officials and personalities regardless of their gender, and many women have also been among the recipients of the greetings of the Iranian Ambassador,” reads the statement.

According to the statement, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also expressed regret at this ignorant act of the Dutch party figure.

Many Iranians living in the Netherlands have also denounced the move calling on this person to apologize.

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Spain-Catalonia: Puigdemont, the doomed architect (who is now also wating Belgian Taxpayers money)– by Jorge Valer

For some, ousted "president" Carles Puigdemont is the architect of a new independent Catalan Republic.

For others, he is just a coward who led his citizens to chaos and ruin, and fled to Belgium. Today, he got his day in court.

At two o’clock, Puigdemont rolled up to the scaffolding-enshrined Justice Palace in Brussels to put his fate in a Belgian judge’s hands.

But history tells us that builders have a dubious reputation in the neighbourhood. The land exportation required to construct the Justice Palace, arguably the largest building of the 19th century, was so massive that ‘architect’ one of the worst insults you could hear in Brussels at that time.

The Belgian judge would not rule on Puigdemont’s skills and vision as a builder of a new nation. But whether he should be sent back to Spain to face trial on five charges, including rebellion and sedition, as the Spanish authorities requested.

The first hearing concluded with little progress. The judge scheduled another session for 4 December to decide whether Puigdemont and the four member of his dismissed government who escaped with  him should be extradited to Spain.

One charge, corruption, was dismissed, which was seen as a victory by the defence, given that it would have triggered an automatic repatriation to Spain.

The decision could come in mid-December but the two-appeal system in Belgium would postpone the final verdict to early next year.

The defence argued that Puigdemont cannot return to Spain because his fundamental rights would not be respected. But the European Arrest Warrant would make it very hard for the Catalan and his former team to escape extradition.

Still, the Belgian prosecutor did his homework and asked his Spanish colleagues last week how the sacked Catalan government’s rights would be ensured.

He reminded them that the principle of “mutual trust”, the bedrock of the EAW, is not enough for a Belgian judge to comply with Madrid’s request.

Note EU-Digest: The fact of the matter is that Mr. Puigdemont did not comply with the constitutional law of Spain, caused public unrest, hurt the Spanish economy in doing so, and now, not only wasting the Spanish taxpayers money for the trouble he created - but in addition also that of the Belgian taxpayer, who have in fact been saddled up paying for Puigdemont's court case, and consequently, thereby also financing his Catalonia "pipe dream" propaganda from Belgium. It is high time for Belgium to stop this nonsense and waste of money. Mr. Puidemont and his cohorts should be extradited to Spain as soon as possible, where they can be prosecuted under Spanish law - as they should.     

Read more: The Brief: Puigdemont, the doomed architect – EURACTIV.com