An Amsterdam councillor has been accused of “unlawful” speech for sharing her comments in a council meeting about a landlord who accepted only female tenants and asked to follow their social media.
Juliet Broersen, head of Volt in Amsterdam, and her party, were accused of defaming landlord Marcel Melis in a courtroom in Lelystad on Monday afternoon.
His lawyers told the court that her comment – “Marcel Melis. I got a bit of Andrew Tate vibes” – was tantamount to suggesting Melis was guilty of sexual intimidation and inappropriate behaviour towards women.
Pascal Steijvers, of Van Kaam media law firm, told the court that Volt sharing her speech on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook – including an English translation – was a pre-election “campaign stunt”. Comparing Melis with a man “internationally prosecuted for rape and human trafficking” automatically brought to mind, he claimed, “sexual violence and sexual intimidation.”
Melis said his reputation was damaged, his 15-year-old daughter faced questions at school and his business had been affected. “It began with a headline in the Parool that I would only rent to blonde women,” he said. “That is false and incorrect and insinuates sexually inappropriate behaviour. I have given 2,000 women a house in the last 25 years, and there have never been any incidents.”
He told the court that women “never made a problem about the socials” and that they also wanted to see who they were dealing with in order to build trust. “I think that I am the most proper landlord in Amsterdam – well, one of them,” he said. “I have to defend myself and my good name…I have been made out to be a rapist and a sexist.”
Unlawful
In a council meeting on January 21 – during which Broersen also asked questions about helping young renters in cold homes – she noted Melis had been fined €10,000 for unlawful sexual discrimination against men. She cited an article in the Parool about his practice of asking to follow his female tenants on social media. “A creepy landlord, as other media are now calling him,” she said in the council meeting. “Either you agree, with the result that your privacy is infringed, or you have no home.”
She continued in the council meeting: “Unfortunately, I am afraid that this landlord is not the only one making bizarre demands for renting out homes. Women in particular are often the victims, judging by the kind of sexual intimidation they sometimes face in a city with such an enormous housing shortage.”
Broersen then asked the city housing chief if anything could be done to crack down on behaviour such as a landlord asking for details of a tenant’s private social media, and four other parties made suggestions.
Political immunity
Jacqueline Schaap, of Visser Schaap & Kreijger, defending Broersen and Volt, argued local politicians are protected from comments made in council by qualified privilege, politicians have broader free speech protections and sharing their council work on social media is part of the job. “If a politician cannot publish her remarks from a council meeting online or on social media, political immunity would be de facto worthless nowadays – it would be totally undermined,” she said.
She added that Broersen had accurately cited media reports and had a right to talk about her own feelings. “She said: ‘I get a bit of Andrew Tate vibes’,” she said. “That is different from saying Melis is Andrew Tate or that Melis abuses women…
“It is Melis who is framing Broersen, putting words in her mouth. Broersen talked about how women experience Melis’ policy and the broader social question, which is her duty as a politician. She has the freedom to shock, offend and disturb.”
Public figure
She added that as a well-known figure who contributes to news programmes, podcasts and frequently posts on social media, Melis needed to accept more public criticism than a private citizen with no public profile.
“The intention of the message wasn’t to compare him with Andrew Tate,” she added. “It was to talk about his conditions of rental. The fact is that women feel intimidated and have a dirty feeling…and Melis is mansplaining. He is telling us how women experience these conditions.”
Broersen, who told the judge that she was nervous about the case, has previously talked about the hateful messages that followed her council comments on tenant rights. She said that, in her view, one woman feeling anxious about her landlord was one woman too many.
“I think it is incredibly important that I can call things out in a council meeting as a female politician,” she said. “And I made the comment that this is not the only landlord who makes demands that are not allowed.”
The verdict of the summary proceedings will be published on April 24.
