Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Outrage in Netherlands after new pandemic curbs spark riots

Before the past weekend of destruction, riots that broke out in January were the worst the country had seen in 40 years.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — The Netherlands is nursing a hangover after a weekend of violent protest against new Covid-19 restrictions, with the worst involving live ammunition fired into a crowd by Dutch police.

Protests began on Friday evening in the country’s second-largest city, Rotterdam. Groups gathered to demonstrate against new measures to curb rapidly rising Covid-19 infections and were joined by people leaving bars and restaurants, which now must close at 8 p.m. Crowds swelled to the hundreds, and the police were forced to use dogs and water cannons to clear the downtown area of the port city. Rotterdam’s Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb described the events as an “orgy of violence.” 

Police confirmed that officers fired live ammunition twice during Friday’s events. "I do not want to see them as demonstrators. As far as I am concerned, these are criminals who have attempted to injure or even kill my police officers," the city’s police chief Fred Westerbeke told Dutch public broadcaster NOS. Three people are being treated for bullet wounds. It was the first time police had fired into a crowd in more than 10 years. 

While Rotterdam remained quiet, cities across the rest of the country saw broken windows, crowds throwing stones at police, and, in a scene typical during Dutch protests, bikes piled in the street and lit on fire. In The Hague, police used a water cannon to clear crowds. Two soccer matches — in Alkmaar and Almelo — had to be stopped after rioters broke into stadiums. While professional sporting events are allowed to continue in the country, games must be played without an audience. 

“Protesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. It has nothing to do with demonstrating," Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said in a statement.

Coronavirus restrictions have been coming back into force across the Netherlands as infections have been rising rapidly, with the Dutch repeatedly breaking daily records for new cases in recent weeks. On Sunday, the public health service announced 20,717 new infections, the seventh day in a row the country has seen more than 20,000 new positive tests. 

Demonstrations against new Covid-19 measures were planned and then canceled for the country’s capital Amsterdam, as well as the southern city of Breda, in light of Friday’s violence. Hundreds still turned up. One man told Dutch public broadcaster NOS he was there to “fight for our freedoms, whatever it takes.”

Protesters are upset by the government’s push to introduce what they call a 2G system, where people must show proof of vaccination or proof of recovery from the virus. Under the current system, referred to as 3G, people can also show proof of a negative test. Figures from the Netherlands government show that 84.7% of adults in the country are fully vaccinated.

Anyone who wants to drink at a bar, eat at a restaurant, work out at a gym or stroll through a museum must show a QR code to enter. Nonessential shops, like clothing stores, must close at 6 p.m., and grocery stores and pharmacies by 8 p.m. Home visits are restricted to four people per day. 

The Dutch have a fast-track system for prosecuting those arrested for rioting, now more than 100 nationwide. According to the police, nearly half of those arrested were under the age of 25. The expedited system was also used after the riots in January — the worst the country had seen in decades — which broke out after a curfew was introduced. 

"There is a lot of unrest in society because we have been dealing with the misery of corona for so long. But I will never accept idiots using unadulterated violence just because they are unhappy," caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters on Monday. 

The Netherlands wasn’t the only place to see backlash to new measures. Protestors in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia and Northern Ireland also held demonstrations, and tens of thousands of people marched in Austria’s capital Vienna. That country has introduced a nationwide lockdown and has severely limited the movement of the unvaccinated. 

Follow @mollyquell
Categories / Health, International, Politics

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...