(AP) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday that threats that forced a teacher in the port city of Rotterdam to go [into] hiding after some students objected to a political cartoon displayed in his classroom must not be tolerated.
Rutte spoke hours after Rotterdam police said they had arrested an 18-year-old girl on suspicion she posted a message on social media that “incited others to commit crimes” directed at the school and teacher.
“The fact that at this moment teachers are being threatened because they paid attention in their lessons to the discussion around cartoons is absurd and we must not tolerate it,” Rutte said.
Dutch lawmakers have reacted angrily to reports that the teacher, who has not been publicly identified, came under threat because of a cartoon that reportedly had been on display for five years at his classroom at the Emmauscollege in Rotterdam.
