Dozens of detainees in protests over restrictions in Holland and the Netherlands
The Hague Government denounces acts of "pure violence" carried out by "idiots under the guise of 'we are dissatisfied'"
Dozens of arrests –44 according to the latest official data, although the Police are still viewing images–, three officers injured, material damage still under evaluation, energetic rejection of the politicians and the immediate disengagement of the organizing entities. These are the aftermath of the riots that occurred on Sunday in Brussels during a demonstration against the restrictions imposed in the country by the rebound in coronavirus infections: 13,240 infections; 249 new hospitalizations and 34 deaths. They are your daily averages for the last week.
This health situation has led the federal government to tighten measures to try to contain what is here identified as the 'fourth wave'. The covid passport is mandatory from October to access all public places (restaurants, cafes, Administration buildings, companies ...); The widespread use of masks has been imposed from the age of 10. And it plans the shadow of mandatory vaccination, already validated for all health and care personnel. A transitional period is set (January 1 to March 31) and a veiled threat: those who do not accept the serum will go to unemployment.
This scenario is the one that led to the massive demonstration last Sunday. 35,000 participants in an act of protest that had the authorization of the City Council. And that it developed peacefully until the tension soared in its final stretch, in the vicinity of the European quarter, which houses the headquarters of the community institutions.
The refusal of some protesters to follow the route agreed with the authorities led to a clash with the anti-riot forces, who responded with tear gas and the use of a vehicle with a water cannon to try to disperse groups of people who threw fire at the agents. They set up barricades, burned containers and various street furniture and caused significant damage to at least six police vehicles.
The protesters, without masks, demanded the abolition of the health passport (which they consider 'slavery pass'), rejected a possible compulsory vaccination and launched slogans in favor of "individual freedoms". Several individuals could be seen wearing ski masks and waving Flemish nationalist flags; also others who wore yellow stars reminiscent of the Nazi occupation.
After the incidents, the organizing platform of the mobilization, 'Together for Freedom', denounced in a statement that “we have some photos of people walking through the demonstration masked, communicating by walkie-talkies and also armed, who, according to hundreds of witnesses They have been identified as the rioters who caused the riots. "We distance ourselves from any act of vandalism that has occurred and we regret that there are people injured," he added.
Partial confinement
The unrest also continued over the weekend in several cities in neighboring Netherlands, where the Mark Rutte government has imposed a three-week partial lockdown. The riots broke out on Friday night in Rotterdam - 51 people arrested (many minors) and, according to different media, at least seven people injured. And they have spread to other cities in the country.
In The Hague, the Police confirm twenty arrests for throwing stones at officers and burning bicycles. Several football matches were also interrupted by the entrance of fans to the stadiums - again banned by the spike in infections.
Rutte on Monday unlinked the protests of discontent over the anticovid measures. He spoke directly of "pure idiot violence under the guise of 'we are dissatisfied'." His deputy prime minister, Hugo de Jonge, has stressed in recent days that vaccination will never be mandatory in the Netherlands, something that the majority of the House of Representatives backs. More than 21,000 positives on average daily in the last week and a phenomenon that worries the authorities: young people who deliberately decide to get infected to avoid the vaccine.
Until last week an 'infection kit' could be purchased for just 33 euros on some web pages. In this way, these 'anti-vaccines' would have access to leisure because the imposition of the 'covid pass' in general is also issued for those who have overcome the disease with a kind of 'recovery certificate'.
