Almost five years after the curfew riots, the municipality of Eindhoven wants to settle accounts with the perpetrators for the mess they have caused. The municipality is taking five rioters to court. Previously, there was the option to settle for 7,500 euros, but these perpetrators did not accept that. If it were up to the municipality, they would now have to pay a multiple.
The city center of Eindhoven was completely turned upside down on January 24, 2021. People caused destruction and started fires. A day later things broke out in Den Bosch: a lot was destroyed there too. The riots started as a protest against the curfew. This measure was introduced at the time to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
Dozens of convictions
The riots caused considerable damage to shops, on the street and at the station. Dozens of perpetrators have been criminally convicted for the riots. The municipality of Eindhoven was referred to the civil court to obtain compensation.
To avoid going to court, the municipality offered 12 perpetrators a settlement of 7,500 euros. Five of them never responded to this, the mayor and aldermen reported in a letter to the city council on Wednesday.
The municipality demands more than €100,000
They are not taking their responsibility, the council believes. And so Eindhoven takes the five to court. The fact that the government is summoning a citizen is a ‘special’ but ‘conscious choice’, the letter states. Eindhoven is doing this to send the signal that it is unacceptable for citizens to destroy public spaces.
In addition, public money has been spent to repair the damage and the municipality wants to recover a large part of this from the perpetrators.
The municipality is demanding compensation totaling more than 109,515 euros. Per person, considerably higher than the previously offered settlement of 7,500 euros.
The five have received a summons. It is not yet clear when the lawsuit will be filed.
This is how it happened on January 24, 2021.