It remains unclear how the triangle (mayor, police and justice) will deal with the announced blockades by Extinction Rebellion and pro-Palestine activists on King’s Day. Mayor Halsema said during the city council meeting that she ‘does not want to discuss it extensively’.
VVD faction leader Daan Wijnants said he was ‘really angry’ about the announcements.“About so much irresponsible behavior by demonstrators who, on King’s Day, the day when our heavily overloaded police are already so busy with the safety of the many hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to Amsterdam, cheerfully block the A10. But not only That also includes pro-Palestinian groups that announce they will also block roads.” He wanted to know how to ensure that the blockages are prevented.
“Let me start with the general statement, demonstrating is a fundamental right, we as a government must facilitate demonstrations, including on King’s Day, which is no exception,” Halsema replied. “It is of course true that King’s Day is the busiest day of the year. That it is a day on which the police are also overloaded and are present everywhere in the city. And that we have previously expressed our opinion about the blocking of the A10.”
Longer
She pointed to the statement that the triangle distributed yesterday, which stated, among other things, that a blockade of the A10 South has consequences for the safety of hundreds of thousands of visitors. “We have also pointed out that this could lead to situations in the city where there may be less police presence because of the A10. Or the opposite could be the case: the blockade on the A10 could last longer because the police are elsewhere in the city. city is needed.”
But she didn’t want to say much else about it. “Exactly how we will do this is really up to the operation and not to discuss this extensively in advance in the municipal council.”
Area restrictions
She believes that issuing area bans to the demonstrators who previously blocked the A10 with cars, as Wijnants proposed, goes too far. “Because you have to be able to substantiate that it is likely that these people in particular will do that again, and there are currently no indications of this.”
If Extinction Rebellion has its way, the blockade of the A10 South will take place again at 12 noon. It is not clear where and when the pro-Palestinian demonstrators started blocking a road.
