Dutch TV presenters escape prosecution for cannibalism

The Hague -  Two Dutch TV presenters, who had pieces of their flesh surgically removed, cooked and ate them too during a programme, have been told that they will not be prosecuted for cannibalism. For, such an act isn't illegal.

During a programme -- Proefkonijnen meaning "guinea pigs" -- Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno were shown sitting under a candlelight to eat little portions of flesh, which had been lightly cooked with small amount of sunflower oil with the help of a professional chef, the Irish Times reported.

Storm, one of the TV presenters, gave away a piece of buttock while Zeno contributed his abdomen' sliver for the show.

"There’s really nothing at all special about human meat,” Storm told the audience later. “Sure, it’s weird to look into the eyes of your friend while you’re chewing on his belly. But it was just a few centimetres and now I have a good story about the scar.”

Stating that it broke new ground in bad taste, some critics called for the presenters to be charged with cannibalism, while others said that was exactly the disproportionate response they wanted.

After the issue was raised in parliament by the Christian Democrats, Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said the presenters would not be charged because cannibalism was not illegal in the Netherlands.

The show was production of public broadcaster BNN (Bart’s Neverending Network). The network targets teenage and young-adult audiences by tackling controversial issues.