Threats sent to the Dutch scientific committee

An illustrative photo of the Netherlands.

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Threats have been addressed to several members of the Dutch scientific committee (OMT), which advises the government on the management of the Covid-19 crisis, the Nu.nl news site reported on Friday.

Threatening letters were left directly in the mailboxes of several of them, said the Dutch media.

In a letter he received, Andreas Voss, one of the members of the UNWTO, is described as "a horrible monkey" and urged to "return to the Germans", he explained to the Dutch site.

A member placed under protection

A member of the committee was also placed "under protection", according to another member, Diederik Gommers, quoted by Nu.nl.

Several members of the scientific committee feel intimidated and are now reluctant to speak out about Covid-19 in the media, they told the site.

The spokesperson for the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which houses the scientific committee, declined to comment.

Since the start of the novel coronavirus crisis, several demonstrations by groups opposed to the Dutch government's health measures have taken place across the country.

A warning issued in October

However, no link has been established between opponents of the measures and the intimidation expressed against members of the UNWTO.

The latter did not comment on the origin of the threats received.

In October, the National Coordinator for the Fight against Terrorism and Security (NCTV) published a document in which he warned of the possibility of violent acts linked to the pandemic, the results of a "combination of extremist ideology , possible psychosocial and psychological problems and measures in the context of Covid-19 ”.

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