The police arrested three suspects last week on suspicion of threatening mayor Halsema. They would have done this in response to the decision of the Triangle not to allow an Ajax celebration in the city.
The three arrested suspects range in age from 18 to 24 years and live in Hollands Kroon, Den Bosch and Dokkum. They have been subpoenaed and are due to appear in court on June 30 and July 7. A minor suspect has also been arrested. This 13-year-old boy from Culemborg received a reprimand after a conversation with the police, in which his parents were present. The boy also wrote a letter of apology to Mayor Halsema on the advice of the police. He has already done that.
The threats were made in response to a message on 9 May from the Triangle (mayor, chief public prosecutor and police chief) that in the event of a possible Ajax championship, no ceremony could take place in the city. That decision was made because there were too few security guards available for a ceremony.
The mayor shared a message on Instagram in response to the threats. She wrote that ‘countless companies’ had been called, but due to the great shortage of security personnel, the municipality had to decide together with Ajax ‘that we could not safely organize the ceremony’ on the Museumplein. Halsema said she understands the disappointment as she is also in favor of celebrating sporting successes in a big way. “It’s not for nothing that we brought the celebration back to the city in 2019.”
Ajax director Edwin van der Sar reacted incensed at the time about the threats against the mayor. “Of course I strongly disapprove of those insults and threats,” he said. “It doesn’t solve anything and it’s bad for the name of our club. But I think it’s really worthless, especially to our mayor.”
Finally Ajax took the title against Heerenveen on 11 May in the Johan Cruijff Arena and an improvised ceremony took place outside the stadium. Not only supporters in the stadium were shown the championship scale, as agreed in advance, supporters outside the Arena were also treated
In addition to the three suspects that have now been arrested, more suspects have been summoned to a police station to provide explanations. The police do not rule out further arrests.
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