Corona riots in the Netherlands: Rutte calls rioters “idiots”

For days there have been violent riots against the corona measures in the Netherlands. Prime Minister Rutte condemned the riots as “pure explosion of violence” and called the rioters “idiots”.

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has sharply condemned the riots in his country over the past few days. That was “a pure explosion of violence under the guise of demonstrations,” said Rutte in The Hague. The police and judiciary are now doing everything they can to hold the guilty party accountable, the executive premier said.

140 rioters arrested

In the past three nights there had been violent riots in several cities. Some demonstrators had thrown fireworks at the police and started fires.

Violent clashes broke out again on Monday night. The protests escalated, especially in Enschede in the east and Groningen in the south. The police arrested more than 140 rioters in the riots since Friday. Often, peaceful protests against state corona restrictions were initially the trigger.

Partial lockdown imposed

The premier said the right to demonstrate is a valuable asset. “But I will never accept that idiots use pure violence against helpers and emergency services with the excuse: We are dissatisfied.”

Due to the rising number of corona infections, the country has been back in a partial lockdown for a week. In addition, a 2G regulation is being planned for some locations. This means that only those vaccinated against the coronavirus and those recovered from Covid-19 would have access.