9 August 2007

VOORBURG - Ehsan Jami, chairman of the committee for ex-Muslims, received dozens of death threats on Wednesday, according to his adviser, academic and writer Afshin Ellian. "The telephone was ringing off the hook," Ellian said on Thursday.
 
Jami was assaulted in Voorburg, where he lives, by three men of ethnic background on Saturday. It was the third attack the 22-year-old Labour PvdA council member in Leidschendam-Voorburg has fallen victim to in a short span of time.

Jami was in the news several months ago when he set up a committee for Muslims who have turned away from Islam. The PvdA member has been given extra security as of Monday.

The politician's address and telephone number were recently published on the internet. "A response on the website GeenStijl included a link to an Islamic site listing Jami's information. That has led to a flood of threats," Ellian says.

Not only death threats but also Arabic prayers were shouted over the phone, Ellian says. "He left me a voicemail in the morning, completely in a panic. The police have asked him to file a report so that they have the legal means to start a criminal investigation into the threats," Ellian says.

Jami's telephone number has since been disconnected. Ellian refuses to disclose where the PvdA council member is staying at the moment. "That would endanger his life. But he is safe in any event."

The Haaglanden district police, which has a special team to address threats to politicians, is working on the Jami case at the moment, a spokesperson confirmed.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news