Dutch Jounalist Teun van de Keuken Seeks Prosecution for Eating Chocolate

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Dutch journalist wants to be prosecuted for eating chocolate Fri Feb 9, 1:23 PM ET

A Dutch journalist appeared before an appeals court in a bid to get the state to prosecute him for eating chocolate made from cocoa grown in African plantations where children are forced to work.

Teun van de Keuken filed a legal complaint against himself after eating 17 chocolate bars "that were established to be made from cocoa from plantations that practice slavery", he told AFP.

When the public prosecutor's office said it would not prosecute him, Van de Keuken, an investigative journalist for a Dutch consumer show, filed an appeal and said he is ready to go to prison for his crime.

On Friday the court here heard testimony from a former slave from Burkina Faso, Kohi Hermann Kam (20), who was forced to work on a cocoa plantation as a 15-year-old boy.

"This trial is a good thing," Kam told AFP on the courthouse steps.

"The plantation owners should pay their workers well," he added. Kam was put to work for a year salary of 20 euros (26 dollars) and worked under harsh conditions.

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