Status: 02.01.2022 11:28 p.m.
In the Netherlands, there is a hard lockdown due to the Omikron variant. By contrast, thousands took to the streets at a prohibited rally in Amsterdam. There were clashes with the police.
Around 10,000 people protested against the Dutch government’s corona policy at a prohibited demonstration in Amsterdam.
The police broke up the rally in front of the Rijksmuseum and there were violent clashes. 30 participants were arrested, the police said in the evening. Among other things, they are accused of disturbing public order, mistreatment or illicit possession of weapons.
Four police officers injured
Four officers were injured when several demonstrators tried to break a blockade by the riot police not far from Museum Square. According to the authorities, the situation calmed down in the evening. Video footage showed police officers using batons against a group of women and men.
Isolated clashes after protests in Amsterdam
daily news 8:00 p.m., 2.1.2022
The police said that police officers mounted horses against demonstrators who refused to leave the square. Police dogs were also used. The public broadcaster NOS reported that initially there was no information about injured demonstrators.
Eviction arranged
The clashes had started in the afternoon in the central square in front of the Rijksmuseum, where, according to the city administration, almost 10,000 people took part in the banned rally. A group of people dressed all in white chanted the slogan “This is not a dictatorship”.
Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema ordered the evacuation of the area surrounded by hundreds of riot police.
Due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Netherlands is in a tough lockdown, which should last until at least mid-January.