More than 1,500 people arrested during environmental protest in the Netherlands

More than 1,500 people, including actress Carice van Houten – from the series “Game of Thrones” – were arrested this Saturday during an action by the environmental group Extinction Rebellion on a highway in The Hague, the Dutch police announced. Militants blocked the A12 motorway in the city center in the afternoon to protest against state subsidies for fossil fuels.

“In total, 1,579 people were arrested, of which 40 will be prosecuted,” the police said in a statement. One of the militants bit the arresting officer, according to the statement.

Among the detainees is the actress who played the priestess Melisandre in the famous HBO series. Van Houten has already been released and returned to her home, the Dutch press agency ANP reported, citing the representative of the actress, without specifying whether the actress is part of the protesters who will be prosecuted.

In a video posted on her Instagram account, Van Houten, dressed in a red poncho, is seen being sprayed with water from a police cannon. This Saturday’s action represents the seventh organized by Extinction Rebellion on that stretch of The Hague highway.

The Police finally ended up intervening with low-intensity water cannons. The protesters, warned against this action, appeared on the highway wearing swimsuits, bikinis and other summer clothes. A protester has been arrested for biting an agent but there is no record of other types of physical incidents in a concentration that the police themselves have recognized as fundamentally peaceful.

dm