The public prosecution department in Amsterdam is taking three men to court who are suspected of distributing anti-gay leaflets around the city last autumn.

The men will be charged with group insult, inciting discrimination and distributing discriminatory statements, the department said.

Three men – a 39-year-old man from Rotterdam and two 29-year-olds from The Hague – were arrested last year and later confessed to being behind the leaflets. They said the aim was to start a discussion.

The men were identified on the basis of security camera footage.

The leaflet, distributed in the west of the city, stated that homosexuality is forbidden in Islam, Christianity and Judaism and goes on to list a number of ‘facts’ about gay people.

It also included a link to a Facebook page focusing on a Romanian couple who were angry their children were taken into care in England and then adopted by a gay couple.

Dutch media suggested the leaflets were the work of supporters of Turkish creationist Harun Yahya. The same quotes and photographs as used on the leaflet can be found on two Dutch Facebook pages interspersed with quotes and films featuring Yahya, who is characterised by his ultra-conservative creationism, the Volkskrant said at the time.