21-year-old ‘drill rap maker’ arrested: police warn against incendiary texts Inland

According to the Public Prosecution Service, the video clips of rappers glorify and call for violence. In doing so, ‘the boundaries of artistic freedom and freedom of expression are being crossed’. The dozens of clips were put on Youtube by the suspect. Members of rival groups are ridiculed and in this way ‘challenged to a counter-reaction’. “The images show many knives and (fire) weapons. Most of the people in the videos wear balaclavas, masks and other face coverings. The lyrics threaten to use violence, for example: ‘I don’t want points, I want a murder’.”

The texts can incite someone to violence, according to the Public Prosecution Service, and that is punishable. Some videos also refer to serious stabbings that recently took place in the Netherlands. “Police and Public Prosecution Service want a limit to be set,” said a press release. “It is important not to lump all drill rap clips together and to make a clear distinction between expressions that do and expressions that do not call for the commission of criminal offences.”

Punishability

Last week, the court in Amsterdam sentenced two men to 100 hours of community service for sedition and possession of weapons for brandishing fake firearms and rapping inflammatory texts in a drillrap video. The makers of it can also get into trouble, emphasizes the Public Prosecution Service after the arrest of the cameraman. He has been interrogated and released, but remains a suspect in the investigation.

This year, two 21-year-old men were sentenced to eleven years in prison after a fatal stabbing on a summer day in the middle of the Scheveningen Pier.

—