XR demonstrators file a report against the police after ‘broken ribs and elbow’ | Domestic

According to the climate action group, a demonstrator suffered broken ribs and a bruised lung during the blockade of the A12 on February 3 this year. On April 6, another demonstrator reportedly suffered a broken elbow due to violence from an officer at another demonstration in The Hague.

“These are not about ‘incidents’. Police violence against peaceful demonstrators is always disproportionate,” says Extinction Rebellion. According to the demonstrators, the incidents are two “in a long series of violence by police officers during peaceful demonstrations”.

“Especially in The Hague, no major Extinction Rebellion demonstration goes by without one or more demonstrators being injured at the hands of the police,” the statement said.

Lawyer Jaantje Kramer is assisting the demonstrators. “The police may use force against peaceful demonstrators if they do not comply with an order to remove themselves,” she says. “But that does not mean that it may use force for this purpose. Unnecessarily inflicting pain and injury is contrary to the way in which the government must protect peaceful demonstrators. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights is very clear in this regard. about,” says Kramer.

When Extinction Rebellion announced it would report the incident, the police launched an investigation into the incident on February 3. A spokesperson for the The Hague police said this in a statement. Images from body cameras and public cameras were requested. ME commanders were also questioned in the study. But according to the police, no additional information emerged. “Until today, May 7, we lacked the information to conduct further investigation,” the police wrote.

The report will now be sent to the Public Prosecution Service, the spokesperson says. He “now assesses the report and ultimately decides on any further prosecution.”

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