cartoonist. A majority within parliament, including the parties supporting the government, considered the manner in which the arrest was made 'disproportionate'. The minister denied accusations made by members of the opposition that the arrest was politically motivated. The decision to prosecute was made by the prosecutor and not as the result of government policy, said the minister. The minister confirmed, however, that he had been in contact with the office of the prosecutor at whose initiative the investigation was started. On May 21, 2008, the popular and largest Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf headed an article about parliament's condemnation of the arrest with a quote of a right wing member of parliament comparing it to practices in former East-Germany. De Volkskrant, the same morning, mentioned near disbelief within the left wing GroenLinks party that the prosecutor's office had needed three years to establish the identity of Nekschot. MP De Wit from the socialist SP party suggested that the justice minister was seeking retribution for parliament's recent opposition to new legislation on profanity. De minister denied any relation. Attacks on authorities In cartoons and satire that was published on his website one month before his arrest Gregorius Nekschot directed his creativity at the justice minister, the prime minister and the government chief terrorism official. Writing with another pseudonym, as Dolf Histler, he accused the justice minister of not being able to achieve much in the field of crime fighting and the cabinet of Christians and social democrats of prime minister Balkenende of religious mania. In a cartoon a naked prime minister is being depicted as 'in touch' with the darker side of public opinion through his 'mighty organ', being the government chief terrorism official as a tapeworm awaiting orders. In another cartoon, once more the prime minister is drawn as praying five times a week in front of a circumcised penis or lingam while wearing a fake beard and a djellaba. Cartoons described The following cartoon was immediately after the arrest published in newspapers as being part of the eight that the prosecutor considered to be a crime: Now too a monument for the slavery of the white Dutch taxpayer, shows a chained white man, on a pedestal titled Kingdom of the Netherlands, carrying a very large black baby on his back. The cartoon appears to react to a debate about the meaning of a slavery monument for the descendants of slaves