International

This week, Osman Kavala, a political prisoner in Turkey, was sentenced to life imprisonment on the basis of false and fabricated accusations. This is a disgrace. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Kavala, who has been imprisoned by the Turkish authorities for five years, is in illegal detention. Turkey's failure to respect this binding decision of the European Court of Human Rights is a disgrace to human rights and democratic values. As a result, the Council of Europe is considering terminating Turkey's membership.

Last year, the SP carried out a survey of the Dutch fire brigade. The results were recently shared with the new Minister of Justice and Security. In the debate, the SP submitted several proposals concerning our fire service. SP Member of Parliament Michiel van Nispen wants fire fighters to have more say in decisions relating to their work: 'The Lower House supports us and the fire service. This is good news, because we need the input of the men and women of the fire brigade as to how we can improve their work'.