THE HAGUE, 28 Jan: Hundreds of climate activists blocked one of the main roads into The Hague on Saturday, defying attempts to prevent their protest that have sparked concerns about restrictions on the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands.
\nThe protesters, many waving colored flags with the symbol of environmental group Extinction Rebellion and one holding a sign saying, in Dutch, \u201cThis is a dead end road,\u201d gathered on the A12 road near the temporary home of the Dutch parliament. Police and hundreds more demonstrators looked on.
\nAbout an hour after the blockade began, officers began arresting demonstrators who refused to leave the road.
\nEarlier this week, six Extinction Rebellion activists were detained by authorities on suspicion of sedition linked to calls to stage the protest. A judge on Friday upheld an order banning another activist from the area for 90 days.
\nThe arrests and exclusion order sparked unrest among activists who argue it infringes their right to peaceful protest.
\nExtinction Rebellion spokesperson Anne Kervers said the large number of participants \u201cshows what society thinks of fossil fuel subsidies and of the intimidation and criminalization of nonviolent climate activism.\u201d
\nProsecutors defended their action, saying the suspects were calling for supporters to take part in the \u201cdangerous and disruptive blockade\u201d of the road.
\n\u201cCalling for a criminal offense \u2014 such as blocking a public road \u2014 amounts to sedition,\u201d prosecutors said in a statement.
\nThey said that the blockade of the busy road leading into The Hague was a danger to motorists and protesters.
\n\u201cDemonstrating is a fundamental right and is facilitated by the municipality of The Hague,\u201d prosecutors said. \u201cThere are hundreds of demonstrations in The Hague every year that go off without a hitch. But a demonstration is not a license to commit criminal offenses.\u201d
\nExtinction Rebellion activists, however, vowed to continue with their protests, in which they demand an end to government tax breaks for companies linked to fossil fuels.
\n\u201cIt is essential that citizens can demonstrate against this in a place that matters. For Extinction Rebellion, this includes the A12, between the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate,\u201d the group said in a statement. \u201cAny nuisance for traffic, for example, will have to be tolerated.\u201d
\nOther activists joined the protest out of solidarity.
\n\u201cWe are very concerned that the right to protest is being increasingly restricted in the Netherlands. We stand firmly behind peaceful activists who exercise their right to protest,\u201d Andy Palmen of the Dutch arm of Greenpeace said in a statement ahead of the demonstration. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE HAGUE, 28 Jan: Hundreds of climate activists blocked one of the main roads into The Hague on Saturday, defying attempts to prevent their protest that have sparked concerns about restrictions on the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands. The protesters, many waving colored flags with the symbol of environmental group Extinction Rebellion and one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-209690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}