Date:         Mon, 12 Sep 1994 09:48:02 -0400
From: PMDAtropos <pmdatropos@aol.com>
Subject:      Gay-bashers arrested by plain-clothes policemen.

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Men arrested after molesting gays

The Velsen (a town 20 km west of Amsterdam) police has arrested 6 men
suspected of having harassed and possibly molested gay men in the
Spaarnwoude recreation area. The ages of the suspects, who were said to be
living in nearby Heemskerk and Haarlem, are 18-20.

The police caught the group after a 45 year old man had been harassed last
sunday. Two man blocked the exit of the Spaarnwoude parking lot, which is
regularly visited by cruising gay men. Because of wrong manoeuvering of
one of the cars, the 45 year old man got away and went straight to the
police to report the incident. When police arrived at the parking lot in
two ordinary cars they too were blocked and the plain-clothes policemen
manning the cars were surrounded by the group and threatened.

  Some of the detainees have already confessed to having been in the
parking lot just to harass gays. Police fear however that they did not
stop at harassment. In their cars the police found things like a baseball
bat, an hockey stick, a stilletto and a can of teargas. It is therefor
assumed that the group has also been molesting gays.

  The problem for the police in this kind of situations is, that gay men
visiting these cruising areas, afraid of being found out, are reluctant to
report cases of gay bashing.

  Only two weeks ago a man witnessed a man being beaten up in the same
area.

+++

Men sent to jail for gay bashing.

A court in Alkmaar has sentenced two inhabitants of Zaanstad to 4 years in
prison each for violently attacking gays at several cruising areas. The
court also ordered them to pay one of their victims Dfl 1500,- (US$ 850,-)
in damages. The prosecution had asked for jail terms of 5 years each.

  The two men, aged 18 and 26, have on at least 4 occasions in the past 1
1/2 months attacked, molested and extorted money from cruising gay men. As
the gay-bashers were reluctant to confess, police are suspecting they have
committed more violant crimes against gays than the ones they were
arrested for.

Love from Holland,

Bert Schuur