Activists blocked part of a highway in the afternoon in protest against the Dutch government’s subsidies for fossil fuels. Police said they used water cannons to disperse activists blocking a main road in the city and “detained a total of 1,579 people, 40 of whom will be prosecuted” on charges including vandalism.
According to the police, one of the activists bit a police officer during his arrest.
According to Extinction Rebellion, about 7,000 people took part in the demonstration.
While waiting for the water cannons, some in swimwear or umbrellas protested along the A12 with banners and signs in hand.
The protest is the seventh that Extinction Rebellion is organizing on the same stretch of highway in The Hague, close to parliament and the main ministerial buildings.
But on Saturday, according to the ANP, most people were arrested at a demonstration.
“We’ll stay here until they drag us out,” says 31-year-old PhD student Anne Kerevers.
“Climate change is a developing crisis and we know the cause, but it is still being subsidized by our government and it must end,” he told AFP.
Among the demonstrators were several well-known Dutch people, including actress Carice van Houten, best known for her role as Melisandre in the popular television series War of Thrones. Van Houten posted a video on Instagram of her wearing a red poncho and being doused by a water cannon.
The ANP said she was detained and allowed to return home later, but did not specify whether she was among those to be prosecuted.
Police repeatedly claimed to have “allowed the activists to complete their action and leave” before deploying the water cannon and making the arrests.
“We come back every month or every two months, and every time the number of protesters has doubled,” said Aaron Pereira, spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. “There is broad popular support for real climate action and people are waking up to the fact that the government is actively going against it by subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.”
The activist group, also known by its abbreviation XR, became known for its disruptive and high-profile maneuvers that became its trademark.
In recent years, the group has caused massive disruption by hitting roads, airports and other public transport networks with direct actions to protest climate change.
But in January, the group temporarily suspended its high-profile actions, pledging instead to mobilize large numbers of people against what it sees as government inaction against global warming.
In April, it organized four days of action in London, including the mobilization of thousands of people for a demonstration in front of the British Parliament.
In recent months, it has also manifested itself at airports across Europe, including protests at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands in March.
This week it demonstrated with other groups against Europe’s largest private jet fair in Geneva. Some activists chained themselves to the aircraft on display and air traffic at the airport was briefly disrupted by the presence of people on the apron.
Source: DN
