This is a really cool story about one man who did something so Extreme that his whole nation took notice of what he was doing and the message he had. I love this story!
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In March 2003, journalist Teun van de Keuken (Tony), voluntarily surrendered to the police in Amsterdam, for eating chocolate illegally produced using slave labor. The police refuse to prosecute him.
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On March 22, 2004, Tony became the first Dutchman ever to press criminal charges against himself for the crime of eating chocolate.
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The filmmakers first act of protest was personal. One day he ate 19 chocolate bars and then turned himself into police for knowingly buying a product made with slave labor, something he says is criminal under Dutch law.
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"At first, I just called the police and said I did a terrible thing. They said, 'Don't worry, we all eat chocolate, good-bye.' Then I hired a lawyer and took himself to court.
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In the meantime, he took his TV show to Burkina Faso to find some of the children forced to work on the cocoa plantations — kids, he says, who had never tasted chocolate until he gave them some. (They liked it.)
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Tony says recruiters from the Ivory Coast cross the border into the destitute country and lure children over with promises of money or even bicycles. Once they get there, he says, "they're forced to work, not paid, and not allowed to leave —"
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Frustrated by the progress of efforts Tony began producing his own chocolate bars, Tony says they were the first on the market to be packaged as slavery-free. Tony says the bars were an overnight success. "
In March 2003, journalist Teun van de Keuken (Tony), voluntarily surrendered to the police in Amsterdam, for eating chocolate illegally produced using slave labor. The police refuse to prosecute him.
.
On March 22, 2004, Tony became the first Dutchman ever to press criminal charges against himself for the crime of eating chocolate.
.
The filmmakers first act of protest was personal. One day he ate 19 chocolate bars and then turned himself into police for knowingly buying a product made with slave labor, something he says is criminal under Dutch law.
.
"At first, I just called the police and said I did a terrible thing. They said, 'Don't worry, we all eat chocolate, good-bye.' Then I hired a lawyer and took himself to court.
.
In the meantime, he took his TV show to Burkina Faso to find some of the children forced to work on the cocoa plantations — kids, he says, who had never tasted chocolate until he gave them some. (They liked it.)
.
Tony says recruiters from the Ivory Coast cross the border into the destitute country and lure children over with promises of money or even bicycles. Once they get there, he says, "they're forced to work, not paid, and not allowed to leave —"
.
Frustrated by the progress of efforts Tony began producing his own chocolate bars, Tony says they were the first on the market to be packaged as slavery-free. Tony says the bars were an overnight success. "
