“Sovereign citizens” sentenced to prison for threatening police
NL TimesThe Midden-Nederland Court sentenced two men who consider themselves “sovereign” or “autonomous” citizens to prison for threatening and extorting police officers and a bailiff. The sentence is lower than the Public Prosecution Service’s demand of three years in prison, half suspended, against M. and two years in prison, half suspended, against P. According to RTV Utrecht, M. and P. are prominent figures within the autonomous movement and spread their ideals - that they can ignore laws and regulations and that it is unfair for the government to impose financial obligations like taxes - on social media and via Telegram groups. The autonomous movement is one of the different levels of “sovereignty.” In the more severe cases, sovereign citizens believe that the government has no power over them and don’t want to be part of the system in any way. According to the intelligence service AIVD, the Netherlands has tens of thousands of people who consider themselves sovereign citizens to a greater or lesser extent, including several police officers and soldiers.
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"Sovereign citizens" sentenced to jail for terrorist threats
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