Around four hundred people were arrested yesterday at the demonstration against the coronavirus rules on the Malieveld in The Hague.
The protest was originally banned by Mayor Remkes on Friday, but when protestors turned up on Sunday anyway, he decided to allow a protest until 1:30 PM, provided that the participants kept 1.5m from each other.
The protestors were demonstrating against the coronavirus regulations imposed by the government to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The expected number of protestors was a couple of hundred people, but in reality the demonstrators numbered at least two thousand.
Breidt zich langzaamaan tot op het Malieveld. Tot 13.30 uur wordt er gedoogd volgens de politie #malieveld pic.twitter.com/tWocTDdUB4
— Roberto (@BobDH070) June 21, 2020
Water cannon used on the Malieveld
Several different groups of protestors came together: as well as people who were protesting the current regulations, some football hooligans also decided to join in. The protestors gathered on the Malieveld, where they did not respect the 1.5m distance rule. They were then ordered to disperse by the police.
Oké… probleem opgelost #Malieveld pic.twitter.com/3TF9STH2mv
— Thomas Heij (@ThomasHeij) June 21, 2020
Some protestors did so, but several hundred remained. After the end time of the protest, 1:30 PM, there were still people on the Malieveld. The police then used a water cannon and charges to get the protestors to disperse. It was then that the majority of the arrests took place.
Mayor Remkes: “It was a restless day in The Hague”
Other groups of protestors were arrested throughout the day: eight people were arrested earlier in the day, one of whom was carrying a samurai sword. Five people were arrested near Den Haag Centraal for throwing stones.
“It was a restless day in The Hague today,” Mayor Johan Remkes said in the statement yesterday evening. “This has nothing to do with demonstrating freedom of expression. This group was deliberately committed to disrupting public order. The police intervened on several occasions. I am grateful to the police for their efforts.”
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Feature Image: DutchReview/Canva