Several cities in the Netherlands were the scene of riots on Monday evening, January 25, for the second night in a row, after the imposition this weekend of a curfew in order to fight the pandemic. Clashes pitted riot police against groups of protesters in Amsterdam as well as in the port city of Rotterdam, where shop windows were smashed and their wares looted.
Amersfoort (east), the small town of Geleen (south), near Maastricht, The Hague and Den Bosch were also shaken by riots, police and media reported. More than 70 people had been arrested at 11 p.m. KST, according to Dutch public television NOS. “A confrontation is underway between the riot police and young people who throw fireworks at them,” Geleen police said earlier in a tweet.
Arrests took place
In Rotterdam, police used a water cannon after a clash with protesters, NOS television reported. The mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, issued a decree authorizing the police to increase arrests. “Arrests have taken place,” Rotterdam city hall said in a tweet. “It is urged to leave the premises”.
Images on social media showed rioters looting a store in Den Bosch or a press photographer hit in the back of the head in Haarlem after being chased away by an angry mob. On Monday evening, the mayors of several cities across the country announced that they would take emergency measures to try to prevent further unrest.
The “worst riots in forty years”
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned “the criminal violence” of the first riots, which took place on Sunday, saying they were “the worst riots in forty years”. Police arrested 250 people on Sunday during protests in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and other cities, local media said. Stores had been looted, cars burned or a Covid-19 test center set on fire.
“It has nothing to do with the struggle for freedom. We don’t take all of these steps for fun. We are doing it because we are fighting the virus and it is for the moment the virus which takes our freedom “, added the Prime Minister, judging that” 99% “of the Dutch support the restrictions.
The Netherlands began its first curfew since World War II on Saturday. It is forbidden to leave your home between 9 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., at least until February 9. Any offender incurs a fine of 95 euros.
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