THURSDAY, 9
MAY 2024 - 13:40
Five cops hurt at Amsterdam Gaza protest rally;
"Significant" damage, Police chief says
Five police
officers were injured while breaking up a protest in support of Gaza at the
University of Amsterdam (UvA) on Wednesday, Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw
told the radio program Sven op 1. The university has suffered “signifcant”
damage due to the demonstrations, he said.
One of the
injured cops got ammonia in his eyes. “The other injuries are minor, but every
injury is one too many,” Paauw said. “I don’t want to say that throwing a stone
is normal, but this is absurd. It looks like street terrorism. How do you come
up with taking ammonia with you and throwing or spraying it at the police?”
Paauw said
that the demonstrations left considerable damage behind at the university. “On
the street near the barricade, there are artworks worth up to 100,000 euros,”
he said. He could not say whether it concerns cultural heritage. “The paneling,
everything there is, has either been destroyed or has graffiti sprayed on it.
The UvA has recovered the buildings, but they have suffered significant damage.
“
A
spokesperson for the UvA said there were indeed works of art placed at the
barricades. He could not provide an exact damage estimate yet, saying that
their insurance provider is in the process of working with them to catalogue
the damages.
“The damage
was huge,” he told NL Times. He was unable to say when the University of
Amsterdam will be able to release a more precise estimate saying the situation
was still very recent.
The police
arrested 32 protesters while ending the demonstration, and another four later.
All 36 are still in custody. “Particularly because of public violence,
vandalism, and incitement.”
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