Sunday 21 November 2021
Arrests in The Hague
Another corona riot in the Netherlands
As on Friday in Rotterdam, this time in The Hague the protest against the partial lockdown in the Netherlands is escalating. Hundreds of people gather, set bicycles on fire and attack the police. There is also resistance in other cities in the country.
Protests against the corona restrictions in the Netherlands led to riots for the second night in a row. In The Hague late on Saturday evening, hundreds of people set bicycles on fire and pelted police officers with stones and other objects. There were several arrests. The previous evening there had been riots in the port city of Rotterdam with several injuries and dozens of arrests.
The demonstrators in The Hague also threw fireworks at police officers. Police pushed groups of demonstrators back and used a water cannon to extinguish a fire at a busy intersection. Mounted police and officers on bicycles patrolled The Hague. There were several arrests.
The operator of a pizza place in The Hague said protesters were angry about the part lockdown and restrictions on people not vaccinated against the coronavirus. However, the police officers did not remain calm either. They pulled people out of his shop and “hit me on the head for no reason,” said Ferdi Yilmaz.
Police reject rumors of deaths
As reported by the public broadcaster NOS, young demonstrators also threw objects at the police in Urk in central Netherlands and in cities in the southern province of Limburg. There had already been riots at a protest rally in Rotterdam on Friday evening.
Rioters pelted the police and firefighters with stones, set off fireworks and set electric scooters on fire. Police officers first fired warning shots and then aimed shots. At least seven people were injured, two of whom were gunshot wounds. Whether these were caused by police bullets is still being investigated, according to the police. Several police officers were among the injured. Rotterdam’s Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb spoke of an “orgy of violence”.
According to the police, 51 people were arrested. About half of them are minors. The search for more rioters continues. According to the police, the demonstrators had come from different parts of the country to attend the protests in Rotterdam.
Rumors circulating in online networks that someone had died at the demonstration were rejected by the police. The Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus described the “extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters” as “frightening” and announced tough action against rioters.
Demos in other European countries too
A protest rally that took place in Amsterdam during the day on Saturday remained largely calm. Several thousand people took part in it on Saturday. Around 1,000 other opponents of the corona restrictions gathered in the city of Breda near the Belgian border. “People want to live, that’s why we’re here,” said protest organizer Joost Eras.
In the Netherlands, a partial lockdown has been in effect again for a week due to the increasing number of corona infections. Citizens are only allowed to meet a maximum of four other people in their apartments, employees should work from home if possible. Shops have to close earlier. In addition, a 2G regulation is currently being planned for some locations. This means that only those vaccinated against Corona and those recovered from Covid-19 would have access.
Demonstrations against the restrictions to contain the new corona wave also took place in other countries at the weekend. In Vienna, tens of thousands of people protested on Saturday against the lockdown that will apply throughout Austria from Monday and the introduction of a corona vaccination requirement. Thousands of critics of Corona restrictions also took to the streets in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. Around a thousand people took part in such a protest in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, and several hundred in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm.
After violent protests against the Corona measures in the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, elite soldiers were dispatched to monitor compliance with a night curfew. There were also demonstrations against corona measures with thousands of participants in Sydney and other Australian cities.