When immunity (placing predatory people like Battistelli above the law) costs people their lives...

Dutch people are unhappy to have become the unwitting hosts of infamous rights violators like Battistelli

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’

--Edmund Burke

Summary: Backlash in the Netherlands is growing again, primarily as a result of media reports about the EPO's abuses against basic rights and the government's reluctance to put an end to these abuses

THE EPO has modified the headline of its conceited remark on last week's ruling in the Netherlands (a remark which we remarked on during the weekend). It was modified this morning to remove the word "today's" and the PR staff was eager to spread the word as if the Office is ever so proud to violate human rights while the Dutch government, which famously welcomes euthanasia, now accepts suicides without any investigation/probe. What does that say about the country? A lot of Dutch people are rightly concerned about the effect this may have (or already had) on their country. We wrote more about that in our prior two articles (since the ruling).

Haar is already becoming a Gulag/Siberia analogy, rendering Battistelli a modern-age Stalin. Someone has already asked: "Any update on the Boards of Appeal being sent to Siberia by Trump of the EPO, PB? I didnt realise Haar was a place in Siberia."

"Haar is already becoming a Gulag/Siberia analogy, rendering Battistelli a modern-age Stalin.""Trump of the EPO" seems to be another new nickname for Battistelli.

Quite a few people have noticed the deafening silence from Merpel and others at IP Kat, which has been relatively if not completely silent (except two posts in the past half a year) after the site was censored by the EPO.

"The Supreme Court of the Netherlands delivers its long-awaited judgement on the EPO's immunity," one person noted, "and not a peep out of IPKat. How disappointing..."

"The Kat appears to have overlooked this interesting blog posting," points out this other comment, linking to this Dutch (but English language) coverage that says:

Dutch Supreme Court upholds immunity EPO in conflict with trade unions

The European Patent Office can invoke its immunity from jurisdiction of Dutch courts in its conflict with the EPO trade unions SUEPO and VEOB. The highest court in The Netherlands, the Hoge Raad, has ruled so today. The Supreme Court set aside a decision of the so-called Gerechtshof, which had ruled to the contrary in 2015.

The SUEPO and the VEOB started legal proceedings against the EPO in the Netherlands (where one of its main premises is based), more than three years ago. They argued that that the EPO violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by limiting the workers’ right to strike, by blocking mails from the trade unions and by refusing to recognize these. The EPO invoked its immunity from jurisdiction.

[...]

It is not likely at all that the decision will lessen the tensions between the trade unions and the EPO president however. Last year Battistelli, widely criticized for his dictatorial behaviour, fired several SUEPO union members, though he has always maintained their activism had nothing to do with it. Moreover, last June Battistelli pushed through a controversial reform of the Boards of Appeal, and he tried to intervene in judicial proceedings concerning the removal from office of a BoA-member. Increased pressure from (parts of) the EPO’s Administrative Council, which is supposed to supervise Battistelli, nor external reports on the social situation at the EPO have led to improvements. After its most recent meeting in December 2016, the Administrative Council reported: ‘Underlining the need to improve the social dialogue, the Council mandated its Chair to work together with the Board 28 and the Office on concrete proposals in the first half of 2017.’

'King' Battistelli possibly gets more power in the mean time, as this new comment says: "The latest rumor about Minnoye is that he will not be replaced after he leaves. There will just be a vice-president "at interim", meaning somebody who is chosen by BB and reports directly to him. There are quite a few of these "at interim" positions for managers lately."

"There were recently yet more suicides, but the EPO did not even mention these."Minnoye is the one responsible for saying that even if the Dutch court ruled against the EPO, the EPO would simply ignore/disregard the ruling. How long before the Dutch authorities realise that they shoot themselves in the foot by implicitly stating that institutions on their territories can violate human rights, including courts which supposedly guard human rights (like ICC)? Dutch attorneys and their clients are already very concerned about the EPO.

Battistelli, according to this new comment, is in certain ways similar to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in the immunity and bad behaviour sense, not just the nationality. Let that sink in for a moment. The commenter wonders why the EPO is "allowed to violate human rights, to harass individuals, to push their victims to suicide."

There were recently yet more suicides, but the EPO did not even mention these.

Here is the full comment, posted by "Tulips from Amsterdam":

The judgement of the Supreme court of the Netherlands is obviously a good news. After the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, French diplomats feared that it would be impossible to violate human rights abroad anymore. Hope comes back. Obviously they have to avoid the USA but the Netherlands is the new dreamland. The Supreme court of the Netherlands gives full immunity/impunity. Psychopaths with diplomatic status are allowed to violate human rights, to harass individuals, to push their victims to suicide. Dutch police covers his ears. The Dutch government covers his eyes. The Dutch Supreme court covers his mouth. (don’t hear, don’t see and don’t speak) The victims suicide. The psychopath is laughing. Welcome to the Netherlands.

We invite our Dutch readers to get in contact/touch with their elected officials (politicians) and petition them for change in behaviour. This mirrors or echoes what we see with Maas in Germany, where there is new coverage about the latest developments. Heise Online's Stefan Kremp wrote about it this afternoon (accurate translation is needed).

Things are starting to boil over at the EPO. It didn’t take long and it won't be the end of it. No problems have been resolved at all, so under the surface it's only getting worse. ⬆