January 25th – On the 24th local time, demonstrations against the country’s epidemic prevention curfew broke out in many parts of the Netherlands, which once turned violent.
Demonstrators clashed with the police seriously. Dutch Prime Minister Lütte condemned the violence on the 25th, saying it was “completely unacceptable”.
According to the Associated Press, at least 10 municipalities in the Netherlands were affected in the violent conflict. In Amsterdam and Eindhoven, at least 190 and 55 people were arrested for violence, respectively.
Lütte said: “These have nothing to do with protests. Even violent crimes, we will deal with them like this.”
According to the report, in the most affected Eindhoven, vehicles and supermarkets were smashed and looted, local police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators, and stones and fireworks were attacked.
In an interview, Eindhoven Mayor Jorisma angrily denounced the demonstrators’ behavior and said, “My city is crying, so am I… If this continues, we are not far from the civil war.”
According to previous reports, the Dutch government has approved a national curfew in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
From 9 p.m. every night from the 23rd to 4:30 a.m. the next day, people are not allowed to go out without special circumstances, otherwise they will face fines. It was also the first nationwide curfew imposed in the Netherlands since World War II.
