Prime Minister denounces “pure violence” from “idiots” over protests against sanitary measures

“VSe that we saw this weekend, it’s pure violence. “ Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte denounced, Monday, November 22, the unrest during protests against anti-Covid measures that have rocked the Netherlands since Friday. He said he would not accept “never that idiots” be violent towards the police “on the pretext that they are unhappy” because of sanitary restrictions.

The unrest started in the Netherlands on Friday, when a “orgy of violence” erupted in Rotterdam, in which four protesters were injured by police gunfire. Five police officers were injured in The Hague on Saturday evening in clashes with protesters, who threw stones, burned bicycles and fired fireworks. On Sunday evening, unrest erupted again, with the number of arrests over the three days of protests against anti-Covid measures rising to 145, police and local media reported. “These are pure explosions of violence directed against our police, against our firefighters, against people on board ambulances, it has nothing to do with a demonstration”, said Mark Rutte, quoted by RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). “The police and the judiciary will do everything in their power to hold those behind this to account”, he continued.

The Netherlands reintroduced partial containment last week to deal with a surge in Covid-19 cases, with a series of health restrictions affecting in particular the restaurant sector, which is due to close at 8 p.m. “I realize that there is a lot of tension in society because we have had to deal with all the misery of the coronavirus for so long, and as a prime minister, as a liberal, I will always fight for demonstrations take place in this country, within the framework of our democracy, of our rule of law “, said Mark Rutte. “But what I will never accept is that idiots use sheer violence against the people who show up on the ground in front of you and me every day to keep the country safe on the pretext that they are unhappy.”, he added.