Defending yourself can be a dangerous proposition in the Netherlands. The preferred way of dealing with crime is to leave it to the professionals. If they bother to show up, or even if they do show up eventually, they may decide that things like burglaries are just not worth investigating. But apparently investigating and prosecuting people who do defend themselves is something that is considered worthy of the state's time. The owner and the manager of a supermarket in Amsterdam chased a robber, who'd threatened the cashier with a knife and made off with 500 euros worth of loot. They finally caught him in a park, and subdued him. Forcefully. In the tussle, the robbered suffered a broken nose. And then he filed a report with the police (who had arrested him by then) about the abuse he'd been subjected to. The owner and the manager of the supermarket are each being charged with the Dutch equivalent of causing grievous bodily harm. The prosecutor's office says they used "excessive force" in subduing the criminal.

With the damage being limited to a broken nose on the part of the criminal, I am having a hard time seeing this as excessive force. Perhaps the broken nose may not have been necessary. I don't know, not having been there to witness it. I do worry about the chilling effect of coming down hard on self-defense in these matters. Defending oneself is not risk-free in the first place, but having the additional discouragement of being treated yourself as a criminal if you do manage to defend yourself successfully will serve to encourage criminals.

Oh, if you're wondering how murderers are treated here, read this.