In August a court in the Hague convicted a 47-year-old woman from Leiden for threatening prime minister Rutte. She made a public death threat on Facebook by picturing him with a noose around his neck and adding threatening words.

'If we can't hang Sylvana, then we'll hang this son of a bitch. The main perpetrator' with a picture of prime minister Rutte with a noose around his neck.

Facebook is a publicly accessible website, so every visitor could take not of the post. By using such a public source, the accused informed the public that she wanted the prime minister hanged. It had to be completely clear to her that the prime minister could see her post, which he did. He filed a report accordingly.

The defence opines that there was no case of a threat that could cause the prime minister to reasonably fear for his life.

The court disagrees. The post contains a text that does not leave much to the imagination. The message is combined by a picture that also does not leave much to the imagination. By placing this on a public website and under these circumstances, the court finds that there was indeed a threat that could cause the prime minister to reasonably fear for his life.