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[smjjames]

Russian airliner crash in central Sinai, no survivors. The article doesn't mention it yet, but there were also a few Ukranians onboard as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/31/middleeast/egypt-plane-crash/index.html

By reading Ukrainian segment of social networks I can say that not a trivial number of people are celebrating this event. This makes me sad. Hope Russians are happy that their actions created millions hating them enough to be happy with deaths of random people

I wonder if the fact that 4 Ukranians also died on that flight would change that.

[martinuzz]

A former top lawyer, now leader of one of our political parties in the Netherlands (VNL), has charged the state and the minister president with breaching articles 104 and 99 of our criminal law, and wants to see them brought to court.

Article 104 states that it is illegal to shelter or aid the enemy in times of war. The lawyer argues that, since we are bombing Syria with Dutch F16s and helicopters, we are at war, and any Syrian refugee is a potential IS fighter, and should not be treated as a refugee, but as an enemy combatant.

Article 99 states it is illegal for a person who is charged with representing the state, to act against the state's interests. The lawyer claims that our minister president did exactly that in the recent debate about re-distributing refugees over Europe, and that he should be arrested for that.

Ofcourse, this is just a right-wing populist party's stir-up.

But damn, if a judge would go with it, especially the article 104 thing, that would mean we not only have to shelter the refugees, we would have to put them in war prisoner's camps, and treat them according to Geneva conventions. Which I think would force us to give them much more ameneties and nicities than they have right now, as civilian refugees [/sarcasm]

On related news, the German AfD party wants to sue Angela Merkel for similar reasons.

[smjjames]

I think you're in the wrong thread Martinuzz. Not sure if that would go in the mideast thread or the actual EU thread though.

Also, why the hell would you have to treat the refugees as POWs? They're non-combatants.

Though I get what you're saying with them being potential ISIS fighters, which puts a real crimp in the Geneva convention because that assumes two nations at war.

[martinuzz]

I think you're in the wrong thread Martinuzz. Not sure if that would go in the mideast thread or the actual EU thread though.

Not sure why post about Dutch politics would have to go into the middle east thread or would be out of place here.

Also, why the hell would you have to treat the refugees as POWs? They're non-combatants.

Though I get what you're saying with them being potential ISIS fighters, which puts a real crimp in the Geneva convention because that assumes two nations at war.

Well that's exactly the point. Said lawyer claims they are not non-combatants, with the majority of the refugees being men of fighting age.
And the two nations at war thing, technically, we are, since we are bombing IS. There has been jurisprudence already, years ago,  concerning the Geneva convention , redefining war.
Nowadays, there does not need to be a declaration of war between nations involved for Geneva to see a conflict as a war. Just sending some F16s to bomb stateless terrorists is enough to classify as 'being at war' now.

[Descan]

Because the Netherlands are part of the EU.

[Sergarr]

Sultan just won with absolute parliamentary majority.

[Sheb]

Fuck. Bloody bastard.

[Sergarr]

At least apparently it's not super-majority. With that, he could've pushed for "constitutional reform" to expand his Sultan powers.

[martinuzz]

Because the Netherlands are part of the EU.

but it's a national issue, not an EU one

[Descan]

Fairly certain the point was "countries not in the EU," not "Anything not related to the EU."

Since the Euro thread is, well, not about the EU. What would the point of this thread be, if it was only about non-EU-but-still-all-of-Europe, since the Euro thread covers that anyway?

[martinuzz]

meh just merge the threads. Less confusion.

[Sheb]

Blame LW who decided to replace the Eurothread by a EU thread. :p

[smjjames]

Sultan just won with absolute parliamentary majority.

Sultan of what though?

[Sheb]

He means Erdogan of Turkey, he is nicknamed the Sultan for his autocratic tendencies. Overall, big losses (21 seats) for the HDP, which was hurt really badly by the mysterious wave of bombing on its rallies which prevented efficient campaigning, and by the resumption of hostilities with the Kurds, but it look like they'll stay over the 10% threshold needed to get into parliament and prevent Erdogan from re-writing the Constitution.

[Loud Whispers]

Blame LW who decided to replace the Eurothread by a EU thread. :p

I thought it'd be rude to not differentiate

Sultan just won with absolute parliamentary majority.

Sultan of what though?

The Erdogan Sultanate