For five hours straight, the judge talked to adult men about why they thought they had to throw stones, eggs, a can, a chair, and a crush barrier. About why they had to kick the mirror of a police bus, kick a on fire police car or push a burning container to the D66 party office.
Man by man shrugs their shoulders when the judge tries to get them to introspect in every possible way. “Come on, you can’t get away with that,” the judge says to Remie van A., when after seven times of insistence he doesn’t get any further than “you’re just completely drawn into that craziness.” “I really don’t know what else to say,” says Van A. a little later.
Van A., a 53-year-old road worker from Papendrecht, with a large build and a blue sweater, is one of the four suspects in the Malieveld riots who will appear before the police judge in The Hague this Wednesday afternoon. He and the other suspects are on trial for their part in the violence of September 20. Then, in addition to an anti-immigration protest on the Malieveld, riots took place on the A12 and in the city center of The Hague. The D66 party office was destroyed, four police officers and seven journalists were injured. In recent weeks, several people have already appeared in court through summary and super-expedited justice and received suspended prison sentences or community service.
The ‘new’ group of rioters were arrested after the police distributed video images of their violence. Van A. has been in jail for seven days. His girlfriend is sitting in the stands with other family members, “she looks a bit angry,” he says. Van A. is the breadwinner at home. The self-employed person’s agenda was completely filled with jobs until the end of this year.
Crowd barrier
Van A. had gone to the demonstration of ‘Els Rechts’ with his brother, “because I thought it was necessary.” But it did not stop at using the right to demonstrate. The road worker threw, among other things, a crush barrier at a passing police van. Doesn’t Van A. have “a little more sense” at his age, the judge tells him. Even his girlfriend had told him that he was done with “that nonsense”? The riots lasted four hours – he had that much chance to leave?
“It makes me very worried that I have been hearing all afternoon: ‘I was pulled along’,” says the judge. Put yourself in the shoes of the police officers who are just doing their riot service, she tells the men. And in families walking past who were suddenly confronted with outbursts of violence, in residents of The Hague on terraces who were harassed.
“Do you know what surprises me?” the judge turns to Van A., “that you are concerned about the safety of women, among other things.” Several suspects stated that they came to demonstrate against female violence, among other things, in the aftermath of the murder of 17-year-old Lisa. Isn’t it strange, to say the least, to take on a police force that is there precisely for safety?
According to the judge, Van A. has been “an example for others” by throwing a can at officers and throwing a crowd barrier at a police van. “At such a moment you drag others along with this kind of aggression. I very much blame you for that as a judge, I also speak on behalf of society.” About the lack of a detailed answer to the question of why Van A. was so violent: “I have the impression that it was your intention, I also think that you cannot explain it.” The road worker receives six weeks in prison, two weeks of which are conditional, plus 120 hours of community service. “Good luck, also to your family,” says the judge.
Also the other men receive a prison sentence, supplemented in two cases with community service. A 22-year-old man is sentenced to three months, one of which is conditional. He threw stones and eggs and destroyed a police car. A 50-year-old man receives two months, one of which is conditional. A 42-year-old man who pushed a container to the D66 party office has been sentenced to ten weeks in prison, four of which are conditional.
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