A new demonstration of the Covid-19 anti-measures movement was held on Sunday January 16 in the Netherlands. Thousands of people marched through downtown Amsterdam. Despite recent relaxations of the measures in force, the demonstrators are not taking off.
With our correspondent in Amsterdam, Antoine Mouteau
On the lawn of Museumplein, Amsterdam’s museum square, in the middle of the thousands of people present, using loudspeakers, a demonstrator broadcasts an excerpt from an old interview with the mayor of Amsterdam on a loop. , Femke Halsema: “ Gatherings must be reported, yes. But even if you haven’t. You have the right to protest. People have the right to protest “.
Many here criticize the mayor of Amsterdam for having recently contradicted herself. Two weeks ago, on this same Museumplein, the police dispersed an unauthorized demonstration of Covid-19 anti-measures.
Images of a man being beaten by an agent and bitten by a police dog had in particular aroused the indignation of a United Nations special rapporteur. But also, the anger of the figureheads of the movement, like Willem Engel: “ Last time, it often went wrong on the police side, because they carried out arbitrary orders and thus let the situation escalate. “.
Still angry, despite calming measures
And in this context, even the recent decision of the Dutch government to reopen the so-called non-essential did not really appease the spirits. In any case, not that of Nicolette, 56 years old: “ We went from a small cage to a bigger cage, but we’re still not free “.
Despite everything, this latest anti-measures demonstration took place without serious incident.