WILLEMSTAD - The measures taken by the government to stem the covid19 crisis are far-reaching. This leads to many reactions among the population, including on social media. We live here in Curaçao in a free democracy in which everyone can in principle say and write what he or she wants. This fundamental right is known as the right to freedom of expression. However, there are a number of rules when we exercise this right. One of these rules is included in Article 2:49 of the Criminal Code, where "sedition" is made a criminal offense.

In brief, sedition is inciting publicly to commit a criminal offense against public authorities. Posting to Facebook or other social media inciting offenses against public authorities can therefore be classified as sedition and is a criminal offense. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) wants to point out to everyone that they have the power to prosecute people who make seditious statements on social media.