The statements made by punk band Bob Vylan during their performance at Paradiso on September 13, 2025, are deemed by the Public Prosecution Service not to be punishable. Although they may be perceived as provocative and coarse, the Public Prosecution Service finds no case of group insult, incitement to hatred or discrimination, or incitement to violence. This conclusion was reached after careful investigation of four statements made by Bob Vylan.
The punk bands performance at Paradiso caused much commotion after some (fragments of) statements by the group were published and spread on social media and in the media. The police received dozens of reports about the concert and ultimately 35 organizations and private individuals filed charges.
Four statements assessed
The police seized the recording made by Paradiso of the performance. With the help of a sworn interpreter, only the spoken passages relevant for the criminal assessment were described and translated. The song lyrics were excluded, also because no charges were filed regarding them. Other statements by Bob Vylan during the concert are not subject to criminal assessment because, according to the Public Prosecution Service, they are evidently not punishable.
The four assessed statements by the punk band are:
- “Death to the IDF”,
- “But sometimes, sometimes you also have to represent kicking a nazi in the fucking face!”,
- “Fuck Andy, fuck the fascists, fuck the zionists. Get out there and fight them. Get out there and meet them in the streets. Get out there and let them know that you do not fucking stand by them. Do you understand me?”
- “Because if you talk shit, you will get banged. Rest in peace Charlie Kirk you piece of shit”
Context
In assessing the punishability of the statements, the Public Prosecution Service only tests based on existing legislation and case law. It is not the Public Prosecution Services role to answer whether a statement is inappropriate or reprehensible. In media coverage, Bob Vylans statements have not always been presented in full and in the correct context. Apart from that context, those statements can give a different impression. The Public Prosecution Service understands that this has led to questions and emotions. However, it is important that the full context is always taken into account when assessing possible criminal offenses.
Assessment
For punishability under discrimination articles, there must be concrete incitement to hatred or violence against a group of people based on, among other things, their race or religion. The Public Prosecution Service concludes that where Bob Vylan speaks about Zionists, the context does not show that the statements implicitly refer to Jewish people as a group. Zionism is a political movement and ideology; these characteristics as such are not protected by the discrimination articles. The four statements, as made in their entirety, therefore do not contain punishable discrimination according to the Public Prosecution Service.
The Public Prosecution Service also finds that none of the four assessed statements constitute incitement. Although the statements are provocative and coarse in tone, the Public Prosecution Service interprets them as calls for activism and political engagement fitting within the expressive and confrontational style of the punk genre. Therefore, in this case, there is no concrete incitement to violence according to the Public Prosecution Service.
The complainants have been informed of the Public Prosecution Services decision by a motivated dismissal letter and may file a complaint with the court of appeal if they disagree.
