Third day of riots in the Netherlands against …

At least 180 people have been arrested in Amsterdam and Rotterdam by Dutch police during protests against the government curfews since last Saturday.. The main cities of the country experienced intense days during which the authorities reported looting and burning of vehicles. The Dutch authorities stressed that the majority were adolescents.

Although the Netherlands has brought coronavirus infections under control, Parliament has enacted a package of measures to prevent the spread of the new variant first detected in the UK. On Saturday, the first curfew in the past 75 years came into effect. It establishes that between 9:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., people must stay at home, otherwise they must pay a non-compliance penalty of around 95 euros. The measure runs until February 9.

Likewise, Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra confirmed that despite the protests, the government would not suspend the curfew established from Saturday. “You don’t capitulate to people smashing storefronts,” Hoekstra said of the riots. In images released on social media, they showed a group of people looting a business in the town of Bolduque and a photojournalist beaten with a brick in the head by several protesters chasing him in Haarlem, a suburb of Amsterdam.

In Hertogenbosch, a town about 100 kilometers south of the capital, there was looting of shops, supermarkets, vehicles were also damaged. The mayor of Hertogenbosch, Jack Mikkers, called the incidents “an unimaginable trail of destruction”. In Rotterdam, another of the worst-affected cities, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb issued a decree to expand police arrest powers. “Arrests have been made by riot police,” the mayor’s office reported on Twitter and urged people to “leave the area” of the protest.

For his part, the mayor of Haarlem, Jos Wienen, called the protests a “serious disturbance to public order” and added that “we all want to be free to move. But that does not give anyone the right to put fire or vandalism. ”Big cities in the Netherlands will start to take emergency measures to prevent further unrest.

In addition, Rotterdam police chief Fred Westerbeke denounced that rioters initially prevented firefighters from acting to deal with several people who needed help, including a disabled girl. and an elderly man.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the riots in which anti-quarantine protesters attacked police and set cars on fire. “What motivated these people has nothing to do with the protests, it is criminal violence,” Rutte said. “We must win the battle against the virus together, because only then can we regain our freedom”he added.

Henk Ferwerda, a criminology specialist, said the protest was “hijacked” by violent people. “There were virus deniers, political protesters and uncontrolled children. The three groups came together,” he added.

As reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, Police arrested around 300 people last weekend after youths threw stones – and in one case knives – at police officers, attacking a hospital. On Sunday, in the town of Urk, located about 60 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam, a group of young people set a Covid-19 testing station on fire. At least 5,700 fines have been imposed for breaking the curfew.