Imagine being robbed of your bag when you are stepping into your car, what would you do? It’s hard to say but I’ll bet that most of us will act on impulse without coherently thinking through the implications. You can stay in the car lock it and call the police, you can step on the gas and flee the scene in fear of violence, or you can throw the car in reverse to attempt to cut off the fleeing thieves to retrieve your stolen property. Alas, if you attempt the latter you so happen to nail the perpetrator between the car and a tree and he dies instantly. I really would like to hear from my readers how the criminal justice systems in their respective countries will deal with something like this, but let me proceed first by telling you how the Dutch district attorney’s office dealt with this real case earlier this week. They wasted no time to make it clear that they (a) would press manslaughter charges against the unfortunate woman who got robbed, a mother of two; and (b) would try and extend her initial arrest period without bail.

Dutch public prosecution has always been skewed in favor of the perpetrators but the zeal on display this time is not only jaw-dropping, it’s an affront to the very notion of right and wrong. But of course there’s more. The deceased thief not only had had an appointment in court that very morning for another - apparently armed - robbery, he also was Moroccan:

Meanwhile, heated discussion has opened up in Amsterdam East, with some Moroccans in the area claiming that B.'s death was murder. Soon after the incident, youths started yelling and screaming at the scene and the situation threatened to get out of hand as they tried to cross police lines to get at the victim.

Feelings are running particularly high between the native Dutch and immigrant communities, particularly in light of the fact the incident occurred just 50m from the spot where filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered last November, allegedly by a Islamic militant with Dutch and Moroccan nationality.

I won’t even bother to comment on the word “allegedly” in the quote above, but you can probably get a sense of the atmosphere in The Netherlands these days. There was however some relief for the vigilante mother because since the Fortuyn and Van Gogh murders there is a slow but steady move to start applying some common sense to situations like this. In a surprising move the Dutch Immigration Minister, Rita Verdonk, came out in support of the woman yesterday and pointed out - for those that had missed the obvious point - that the robber’s death was a direct result of his crime, but at the same time she ruled out interfering with the prosecution’s approach to this case. No interference, fine, it’s not her territory but the message was clear.

With a victim acting to defend her property and a dead Moroccan, the Dutch media had a field day this week. There’s no telling how this case will develop but expect a lot of pressure on the public prosecutor to get the woman convicted on manslaughter charges in order to not only protect the unfortunate victim but also to quell any racial tensions. At the same time the renewed common sense attitude will likely ensure equal pressure to drop the case as early as possible which sane minds should applaud, but you never now with prosecutors that reward first-degree murder with a paltry eighteen years. Will keep you informed.

UPDATE: Apparently the unfortunate mother has been set free, but remains, what else to expect, a 'suspect'.