The anti-Covid unrest that has rocked the Netherlands since Friday are acts of “pure violence” on the part of “idiots”, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters on Monday. “What we saw this weekend is pure violence,” said Mark Rutte, adding that he would “never accept that idiots” are violent towards the police “under the pretext that they are unhappy ”because of the sanitary restrictions.
Unrest erupted in the Netherlands on Sunday evening for the third night in a row, with the number of arrests over the three days of protests against anti-Covid measures rising to 145, police and local media said.
Partial containment does not pass at all
“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. “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 cope with an outbreak of Covid-19 cases, with a series of health restrictions affecting in particular the restaurant sector, which is due to close at 8 p.m.
A weekend of violence
“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 that demonstrations are taking place in this country, within the framework of our democracy, of our rule of law ”, declared Mark Rutte.
“But what I will never accept is that idiots use sheer violence against the people who appear on the ground in front of you and me every day to ensure the security of the country under the pretext that they are unhappy” , he added.
The unrest started on Friday in the Netherlands, when an “orgy of violence” erupted in Rotterdam, in which four protesters were injured by police fire according to the latest estimates. Five police officers were injured in The Hague on Saturday night in clashes with protesters, who threw stones, burned bicycles and fired fireworks.