Eight people were arrested at a demonstration on the Museumplein in Amsterdam this afternoon, including for insulting police officers. The manifestation of the action group United We Stand Europe has now ended. The Museumplein is still designated as a safety risk area until 9 p.m.
According to a police spokesperson, five people have been arrested for insulting the police, one for failing to show identification and one for obstructing the police. A person was also arrested who was identified in the police system, in other words someone who the police was still looking for. The spokesperson cannot say why this person was spotted.
Mayor Femke Halsema, in consultation with the police and the Public Prosecution Service, designated the Museumplein and surroundings as a security risk area on Sunday morning, so that preventive searches can be carried out. There would be signs that people who wanted to join the demonstration “are out for disturbances and take weapons,” the municipality said on Twitter. Despite the eight arrests, the protest was peaceful, the police spokesman said. No weapons were found.
water cannons
Around 1 p.m., hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Museumplein for a manifestation of the United We Stand Europe action group, including for freedom and against corona vaccinations. Among the demonstrators were also supporters of Willem Engel, who protested for the release of the dance teacher and opponent of corona measures.
After a demonstration in the square, the activists walked a route in surrounding streets, including the Stadhouderskade and the Hobbemakade. The demonstrators referred to a year ago, when protesters walked the same route after a meeting against the corona measures on Museumplein. Because the corona measures were not complied with at the time, the police disbanded the protest, including with water cannons. A large group of demonstrators then marched through the city and some were then locked up on Leidsekade by the police.
Sedition
Engel was arrested on Wednesday morning for sedition. He would have posted ‘incendiary corona-related messages’ on social media for a long time, according to the Public Prosecution Service. “These reports have led to other people committing or inciting criminal offenses.”
On Friday, the examining magistrate of the court in Rotterdam decided that the 45-year-old foreman of the virus truth action group will remain in jail for two weeks longer. The Public Prosecution Service had asked the examining magistrate to keep Engel in custody for longer, partly because of fears that he would again post incendiary messages on social media ‘which could endanger the health or safety of people’.
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