Riot police called out across the Netherlands as
trouble flares for third night Corona
Society
January 25, 2021
Riot police
were called out to cities across the Netherlands on Monday evening in a third
night of rioting following the introduction of a curfew to try to stop the
spread of coronavirus. By the time things had quietened down, 151 people had
been arrested, police said. Police chief
Willem Woelders told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur: ‘Things were
relatively quiet until 7.30pm, but then all hell broke loose.’ In Haarlem and
Rotterdam police threatened to use tear gas to break up the crowds, and extra
riot police were drafted in, Woelders said. In Amersfoort, fireworks were
thrown at police and there were also problems in Den Bosch, where a group of up
to 150 youngsters had gathered in defiance of the 9pm curfew, and a Jumbo
supermarket was plundered. In Rotterdam, mayor Achmed Aboutaleb evoked his
emergency powers and called in riot police with water cannon after trouble
broke out in the south of the city. There were some 60 arrests. RTV Oost
reported that gangs of youngsters were running through the centre of Zwolle and
there were clashes with police in the north of Helmond. In Zeeland province,
six people were arrested in Goes and Kattendijke after calling on people to
riot via social media. Police in Noord-Holland province said they had arrested
five people who had called online for riots in Purmerend, Hoorn and Alkmaar. In
Amsterdam, there were at least nine arrests after trouble erupted in the east
of the city. In Gouda, the mayor also evoked his emergency powers after several
cars were set on fire. There were also arrests in Geelen, in Limburg, including
several minors, police said. Weekend Monday evening’s trouble follows
disturbances on Sunday as protestors staged demonstrations against the
coronavirus rules in Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Up to 300 people were arrested as
riot police were drafted in to break up the crowds. In Eindhoven, station shops
were looted and police used tear gas in an effort to disperse the
demonstrators. On Saturday night, the first day of the 9pm curfew, there were
disturbances on the former island of Urk, where protesters set fire the the
coronavirus testing centre, and in Stein in Limburg. Condemnation Prime
minister Mark Rutte described the
violence that accompanied anti-lockdown protests in some Dutch towns and cities
on Sunday as ‘unacceptable’. Rutte said 99% of people were complying with the
stricter new rules, including the 9pm curfew that came into force on Saturday.
He singled out the vandalism in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, as well as Enschede
where a hospital building came under attack, for special condemnation. ‘Any
normal person will look at this with disgust and ask themselves what possessed
these people,’ Rutte said. ‘This has nothing to do with protesting: it is
criminal violence and that is how we will treat it.
Politicians, mayors and police condemn rioters as
arrest total hits 184
Society January 26,
MPs,
ministers and local mayors have condemned Monday night’s riots at towns and
cities across the Netherlands, describing them as ‘shameless’ and the work of
vandals. Some184 people were arrested in a third night of trouble across the
country, which commentators say had little to do with protests against the
coronavirus curfew. The destruction led justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus to
say that people arrested during the riots will face tougher legal action, not
simply a €95 fine for ignoring the coronavirus rules. ‘Shameless thieves, what
more can I say,’ said Rotterdam mayor Achmed Aboutaleb, after gangs of youths
looted shops and attacked the police. ‘I had to threaten to use tear gas, which
is a far reaching measure… and something I have never had to do in my career as
mayor,’ Aboutaleb said. Haarlem mayor Jos Wienen said that everyone would like
to be freed from the coronavirus rules. ‘But that does not give anyone the
right to move through the city in a gang, setting fire to things, lighting
fireworks and vandalising property,’ he said. MPs too expressed their anger.
‘Looting shops was something that happened in other countries, not here, not in
our country,’ said Christian Democrat MP Wytske Postma. ‘No matter how much I
am opposed to the curfew, this is not a licence to riot, damage other people’s
property and loot shops,’ said Denk MP Tunahan Kuzu. The Dutch police union
Politiebond said its members had not been confronted with such violence in 40
years – when there were running battles on the streets between police and
squatters. Social media It is crucial to monitor social media for calls to
action and to keep in close touch with youth workers who know what is going on
in their neighbourhoods, spokesman Jan Struijs said. Many of Monday’s
gatherings had been prearranged online. Groningen University lecturer Berend
Roorda said that while the organisers of the weekend demonstrations cannot be
held responsible for the violence, ‘it would be good to be aware of what they
hope their demonstration will convey’. ‘Last year, other relatively peaceful
demonstrations against the coronavirus measures were also taken over by
troublemakers,’ he said. Criminologist Henk Ferwerda said the weekend riots may
have started out as peaceful protests but that copycat behaviour came into play
on Monday. In many cases, the troublemakers were ‘people who were out for
violence,’ he said. Others were swept up in the atmosphere, he said. ‘There is
nothing I can say,’ the owner of a jewelry store in Rotterdam told broadcaster
NOS. ‘They have wrecked all of it, and taken everything with them.’
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