The man who is seen as one of the instigators of the vandalism of the Wijdemeren town hall in Loosdrecht last week was sentenced this Friday to six weeks in prison, two of which were conditional. This is reported by the ANP news agency. The man is said to have thrown at least twenty paving stones through the windows of the town hall. He is also said to have thrown a base plate, which is used to hold fences together, at the property and rammed the electric entrance doors with a bollard.
Brian A. (34) from Ermelo called his own act “stupid, stupider, stupidest”. He was arrested on April 27, suspected of public violence and vandalism. Last Friday a man from Hilversum was already… convicted for throwing of a burning torch during an anti-azc demonstration in Loosdrecht. He was given a prison sentence of 30 days, of which 27 were conditional, and 100 hours of community service.
The town hall of Wijdemeren is partly empty due to an upcoming merger with the municipality of Hilversum. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) had designated the building as a temporary emergency reception location until the beginning of November at the latest. The opening, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed until May 6 because the municipality did not succeed to “prepare the shelter in a timely manner.” The number of shelter places was also reduced 110 to 70.
Last week it was restless for three days in a row in Loosdrecht, where demonstrations took place against the arrival of such a temporary asylum center. National anti-azc groups also came to the protests. According to the police, fifty people were present at the destruction of the town hall, wrote NH News Tuesday.
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Parliamentary questions
The unrest in Loosdrecht also attracted the attention of the House of Representatives. Member of Parliament and former asylum minister Marjolein Faber (PVV) asked questions to the Minister of Justice and Security on Wednesday on the application of summary justice. Faber suggested that the Public Prosecution Service and the judge deliberately want to suppress the asylum seekers’ center demonstrations.
The members Annelotte Lammers, Gidi Markuszower and Shanna Schilder (Group Markuszower) set up thirteen questions to the Ministers of Asylum and Migration and of Justice and Security on the state of affairs in Loosdrecht itself. They asked, among other things, whether residents had not been informed only a few days in advance, without participation or a safety plan, and stated that the acting mayor acted without a democratic mandate.
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